IT'S A CRIME! (OR A MYSTERY...)

Michael Connelly – The Narrows, The Closers and now The Lincoln Lawyer – trick or treat?

OK then, I said October was MC month.  I had to catch up on my “to read” list and back to back Connelly was the plan.  And just in case that header caused some tremors, all three books are real treats, not a trick in sight!

The Narrows

After Minette Walters with The Devil’s Feather I was looking for something to draw me in pretty quickly.  Connelly is an expert at hooking in the first very few pages and I was gripped almost immediately.

Connelly has pursued two series, one with LAPD officer Harry Bosch and another with FBI profiler Terry McCaleb.  In A Darkness More Than Night he brought his protagonists together in one book and one story, so they have a shared history, shared respect and shared appreciation for one another and their professional abilities.

At the opening of The Narrows, Terry McCaleb is dead and his widow approaches Harry Bosch, now a retired-from-the-LAPD private investigator, to look into his death.  Terry’s widow is a nurse and she knows that his medication, post-heart transplant, which McCaleb took religiously each day, was meddled with in the days leading up to his death. 

It was well known on the publication of this book that it was a follow up to The Poet, Connelly’s 1996 novel featuring McCaleb in a lesser role, alongside Rachel Walling, FBI agent, and Jack McEvoy, a journalist. 

I took advice on this one, “If you haven’t already, you must read The Poet before you read The Narrows” said my wonderful crime fiction reading friend.  I did and I’m glad.  My copy of The Poet had been hiding in my “to read” pile for a couple of years – I came to Mr Connelly a bit late, you understand – so I read it in the spring of this year, knowing that I had the thrills of The Narrows to follow.

Having read it first, I can confirm the advice I took was good advice, but not essential.  If you already love and follow the series, reading The Poet first is a must.  If you are new to the series, it’s possibly optional, but believe me, reading The Poet first, is still a good bet.  The Poet leaves an open end, a deliberate action from Connelly; he thought it would represent the real world, where the loose ends often remain hanging.  But then, some people pushed him into writing a sequel he never planned and it became The Narrows.  The serial killer we all thought was subdued at the very least, returns with all synapses fired up.  What can he now do?  What is he capable of?

Knowing the detail of the back story here just adds to the satisfaction on reading The Narrows, which is a great story.  Both The Poet and The Narrows are extremely good reads, but together and in order, they make a much bigger and better story.  And in The Narrows, we get to know exactly what the surviving Poet is capable of, sick human that he is.  (I’m so glad this is fiction.)

Bosch, as a PI, finds his own investigation colliding with one run by the FBI.  He needs to find a way of working with them and falls into an uneasy alliance with the sidelined Rachel Walling. 

Most of the book is set in Las Vegas, or very near to that gambling metropolis.  The ever human Bosch has a daughter there; her mother making a decent living out of gambling, which Bosch hates.  Bosch is not perfect, but he does want to spend time with his newly discovered daughter and we see him loving every moment of it.

This is a novel of suspense, chase and tension, rather than a whodunit.  Connelly grips and also twists what he creates.  It’s a journey for Bosch and one in which the reader will certainly enjoy the bumps and dips from the side car.

The Closers

Here, Harry Bosch is back on the force.  We join him on day one as he rejoins the LAPD, hooks up with his previous partner, Kiz Rider, and takes back the badge he once held, but with his old boss, Deputy Chief Irving, still on his tail, relishing his downfall.  Harry retains his strong sense of right from wrong, even if the shadow of his old boss and his grubby politics impact our hero’s decision making. 

Harry’s first case in the “Open-Unsolved Unit” is that of the 1988 murder of a bi-racial teenage girl.  A very recent DNA match means that the murderer has been identified, or so we are led to believe. But DNA is not everything.  We soon learn that the DNA has to be matched to the actual incident, and time of the incident, in order to get a conviction. So there’s the gap that needs to be filled with evidence.  Nothing is ever simple though, is it?  Connelly brings us a does of realism in pursuing a cold case.

As the story develops we hear so much about the murdered girl that we cannot but hope that the Open-Unsolved Unit finds resolution.  She was just a normal teenager, full of hope and fear for the world she found herself in, and then, suddenly, she was dead, killed in what looked like a pre-meditated attack.  Connelly is renowned for his tight plotting and this book is no exception.  More than once I thought I’d spotted a hole, a little error.  But no, perhaps it was just a tease.  Just a page or so on, I had the answer I was looking for.  Every base was covered.  There are absolutely no holes in Connelly’s plotting colander. 

For me, The Closers was also far more of a social commentary on life today than The Narrows.  It acknowledges how life can be, but also says it doesn’t have to be like this and leaves the door ajar.  Perhaps because of the story and the plot, being a whodunit, I enjoyed this even more than The Narrows.  The story grips and there is plenty of emotional investment.  It may have taken almost two decades to resolve, but when Bosch and Rider finally have the case sewn up, it is so satisfying.  It’s also a glide of a read.  So, if you haven’t read it yet, Christmas is coming.  Treat yourself, if others are oblique to the flashing neon messages you are capable of sending out!

The Lincoln Lawyer

Good bye for now, Harry Bosch, and hello Mickey Haller, Bosch’s half brother.  But we don’t know that from that from the book itself; I’m just telling you, based on what I’ve picked up elsewhere.

Mickey’s an LA based small time criminal defense attorney, always hoping for the big case and mega bucks to come along, and working from the back seat of his car – a Lincoln.  One day he gets a call from one of the bondsmen he has on his Christmas nut selection container payroll.  This is the biggie.  This could be the whopper of an earning franchise he so longs for.  Louis Roulet has specifically asked for Mickey.  He’s accused of assault and attempted rape.  He lives on the right side of LA and he’s a real estate agent.  It’s a family business and he’s mega-wealthy.  They have a family lawyer, but Louis asks specifically for Mickey.

In this book, the plotting is again tight; twisting and turning in completely unexpected directions.  If you start the book thinking you have some idea of where it’s going, I’m sure you’ll find yourself very surprised.  I’ve read so much crime fiction now that I find myself working out the "who" or the "why" or the "how", before the end.  Few authors keep me guessing these days, but Connelly did here, 100%.

As for the prose, the book is written from Mickey’s point of view and Connelly has achieved a very new and very characteristic voice.  This is Mickey Haller speaking, the only way he knows how.  You might find you don’t like him that much, after all, Connelly takes us right into the heart of Haller’s work, so we hear of some pretty miserable cases and the negotiation that goes on from the side of the defense.  But it is possible to warm to Mickey; underneath the veneer that sometimes repels, he still has a conscience and remembers the right side from the wrong side.

For me, the diversions into other cases proved a distraction on times, but they do give you a sense of exactly what it is like to work as Haller does.  The setting here is less LA, and more the courtrooms of LA, the lawyer’s office (back seat of the Lincoln), the constant phone calls and an Irish-American bar.  That’s where it all happens and nothing is glamorised.  This is the closest I think you can get to understanding just how a criminal defense attorney actually works in the US.

I initially thought, having read two really great Bosch books, that I wouldn’t like The Lincoln Lawyer.  But by the end, indeed well before that, I loved it.   This comment comes from someone who has not read a legal thriller in years.  The Lincoln Lawyer has more twists than you’ll find in the DNA molecule.

In Haller, Connelly has created a character that elicits sympathy, but at the same time he reminds you that this is a "love" and sometimes "hate" relationship.  You can understand why Haller has two ex-wives and why both of them still care for him, possibly still love him, in their own way.  But that’s another story, another sub-plot; I recommend you read the book.  I really do believe you’d enjoy it. The Lincoln Lawyer is Connelly on top form, coming of age, as if we could ever doubt it...

Spoiler warning for The Lincoln Lawyer

If you are keen to find out what is coming next from Connelly and when it’s due for publication avoid Amazon, if you are still to read The Lincoln Lawyer.  The brief synopsis there is the mother of all spoilers, as far as the main plot of The Lincoln Lawyer is concerned.  Honestly, how could they?

Stick to chocolate or whatever is your poison, but don’t read the synopsis of Echo Park!  And don’t say I didn’t warn you, if you are foolish enough to think I’d even suggest teasing you.  You have been warned!

Further evidence...

... that people in the world of crime fiction are a kindly and generous bunch!

Macavity's is a UK independent online bookseller specialising in crime fiction, true crime and crime reference books.  They have just contacted me to say they've linked to this blog from their own within their site, in particular, the post on the Cheltenham Festival event with P. D. James and Ian Rankin that you can read below.

For those less familiar with Macavity's,  www.macavitys.co.uk is a secure shopping site with news, interviews, reviews and links to other crime book sites. Macavity’s also produces a monthly mail order catalogue for both UK and international customers.

On their site this month, they are featuring an interview with Martin Edwards and an extract from his new book, The Cipher Garden, and a competition to win tickets to see Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None in London's West End. Next month they'll be interviewing Phil Rickman.

In addition to a shared interest in crime fiction, Macavity's and I also share knowledge about where to put an apostrophe, something that can't follow the rules when it comes to website addresses.

Thank you Macavity's.

Would Make Good TV - try Aberystwyth Mon Amour et al

Well, the National TV Awards hit our collective psyches here in the UK tonight.  Dr Who did pretty good (so I see from the BBC's website).  Which leads me on to something else entirely...

Russell T Davies, the man behind Dr Who, is a particularly good script writer and producer.  In fact, he's quite hot right now, isn't he?  Has been for a while, if we're all honest.

So Russell, if you are reading this, I suggest to you: adaptations of the Malcolm Pryce novels, Aberstwyth Mon Amour etc...  I think you could do them well.  When I saw a trailer for the "Funland" series I thought it was based on Pryce's novels.  Alas, no.  That is something else entirely, but it did get me thinking.

Pryce's novels are Wales with a twist.  To be on screen needs a script writer with a good eye, head and heart, as well as an acute sense of "being" and acute oberservation.  (This is called "buttering up".)  And that's where Russell T comes in.  I throw this suggestion out to the world wide web in the hope the RTD machine will pick it up. 

The Aberystwyth of Pryce's eyes deserves to be on screen.  In my eyes, Russell T Davies is the man to do it.

Cheltenham Literary Festival – P D James and Ian Rankin, 12 October 2005

The authors were interviewed by Pamela Armstrong, the former ITN News at Ten newsreader, and appeared at the time of publication of the following books:

P D James: The Lighthouse (fiction)

Ian Rankin: Rebus's Scotland (a partly autobiographical travelogue) and The Flood (fiction and an early example of what Rankin may have written had he not been inspired by his series character, Rebus).

Armstrong kicked off by announcing that she would play devil’s advocate with her first question.  She quoted P D James from some years ago "…all fiction is an attempt to create order out of disorder…"   So what did Rankin think of that?

Well, on the spot, he agreed, "…to a large extent…"  Rankin believes that in real life we don’t always get answers to our big questions, but in the world of fiction we can, where closure satisfies the reader after the world has a good old shake up.

James then elaborated with the thought that creativity is the exploration of internal conflict.  In a detective story you get a solution; in a modern detective story you get a solution, but a lot of mess along the way, with a lot left at the end.   

Armstrong then asked the authors what favourite things(s) they use to confound their readers?

Rankin hates having to place red herrings, he considers it playing games; when he reads crime fiction he usually reads the last chapter first and then goes on to enjoy the book as a whole.  He has tried novels where there is teasing along the way, but doesn’t appear to like them.  And then came a big one for the night, less than forty eight hours after the announcement of the 2005 Booker Prize Winner, Rankin asserted "what separates us from the Booker Prize winners is structure".

Comments from both authors about the place of the crime fiction genre within modern literature, especially when it comes to recognition within the sphere of so called general awards, made the quality press in the UK.

See the following for more detail than I could possibly give here:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1825413,00.html

http://books.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,16488,1593755,00.html

http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=810&id=2093742005

For Rankin, the ability to tell a story is key; a good story at that.  He admitted to being a fan of Jilly Cooper – "someone who can tell tales", in Rankin’s opinion. 

James added that she loves working within a form.  The detective novel has a formal structure.  For James, the clues come from people’s characters; therefore if you get to know the character, you will think he/she is probably the murderer.   She went to describe the novel itself as an artificial form where an author uses their own thoughts and rearranges them.

When Armstrong asserted that the authors try to say something true about men and women, she had barely finished the sentence before James retorted speedily with "Aren’t all authors?"  Rankin added that good crime fiction starts with the particular and the insular and then the ripples spread to society and morals.

Armstrong prompted the authors to talk about the creation of their main characters and asked the question that lingers in all minds – how close is the author to the character they created?

Rankin considers Rebus a curse and confirmed that there are only two more books to come in the series.  Given he is a real time character he will need to retire in two years, unless the laws are changed in Scotland.  Rankin noted that retirement age is being questioned currently by a Member of the Scottish Parliament, a reader of his books.  James, acutely on the button, pointed out that he may have only two years left but he could be very busy in two more years and work on ten cases.

But back to Rebus again.  Rankin, a student in digs, had an idea for picture puzzles.  He was not a crime novel fan at the time, unlike other crime fiction authors.  But the idea led to the knots and crosses puzzle and the message therein, and hence the first book in the series.  Like other crime fiction authors Rankin gets the dark stuff out of his head and on to paper, so he considers himself a well balanced chappie, just like everyone else who writes in his genre.  He added, "It’s the Romantic Novelists Association members you have to watch out for".  And where exactly did I hear that joke before?

For James, she started out with a view to simply giving it a try.  There were no senior female detectives then and she did not want to use an amateur as her protagonist, as in real life, they do not stumble over bodies all the time.  She avoided the sentimental, something she hates with a vengeance by the sounds of it.  But the one thing she and Dalgliesh share is a love of poetry.  Dalgliesh was named after an English teacher James had at school.  After she had retired, James visited her in Edinburgh and the

teacher showed James a picture and said "That’s my father, he was called Adam."

James created Dalgliesh as a person who was not too extraordinary but with scope for development.

Armstrong asked the authors if they still do research.

Rankin admitted that in the early days he did very little and then a cop pointed out a lot of mistakes to him.  Feeling guilty, he started to research and the cop became a good friend, introducing him to others, including those in forensics.  Rankin then recalled a recent experience for him.  A murder took place near his home and suddenly a newspaper called up asking for a comment.  Astounded, he replied, "I didn’t do it!  No comment."  He writes and researches but does not get close to the real world; his interest was piqued, so he did visit the murder scene.  "Well, if it’s almost on your own doorstep…"  He later went into his local newsagent and saw a headline in The Sun: "Ghoulish Writer Visits Murder Scene".

Armstrong prompted Rankin to speak about the issue of asylum seekers he had used in his plot for Fleshmarket Close.

Yes, he did the research and yes, he realises that politicians read his books, therefore he has to be careful about taking it seriously.  Rankin was contacted by someone who pointed out the name Rebus is in fact a Polish name.  This led him to think of the issues on immigration and the real life murder of an asylum seeker in Glasgow.  What did he, the author, think of this?  What would Rebus, someone of potential immigrant origins, think of this?  Research for Rankin meant contacting charities and the Home Office, but not too much.

Armstrong asked how important setting is to the books of the authors.

James finds that setting is the spark of creative imagination for her, it influences plot, character and can have symbolic importance.  She empathised with Rankin’s work saying that when she reads his books, she is in no doubt she in Edinburgh. 

Armstrong then fell suddenly out of the loop, where a close banter between the two authors ensued:

Rankin: But you like closed communities.

James: Yes, they are useful.

Rankin: Claustrophobia?

James: Yes, jealousy and resentment can fester nicely.

Rankin:  Everybody’s bonking in this book.  (The Lighthouse.)  There’s more in the first 50 pages than in my entire oeuvre. 

After quite some laughter from the stalls and dress circle, Armstrong opened the floor to questions from the audience.

Rankin was asked about Rebus’s love life, given his personality traits and lifestyle, it doesn’t make him such a good catch, but somehow he manages it time and time again…

Rankin begged to differ with the questioner, on the basis that Rebus just can’t sustain anything.  He said that he’s tried to get him into a stable relationship many times but for many reasons, it doesn’t work.  The main reason in Rankin’s mind is the fact that his wife never likes the character he creates as Rebus’s love interest.  Therefore, it never lasts very long.  James, making it very clear she is a Rebus reader, suggested that perhaps the women in Rebus’s life are, in fact, too hard; a point on which Rankin seemed to agree.

When Armstrong asked about Rankin’s writing life beyond Rebus, he replied…

He hopes so.  There are two more Rebus books.  The next novel is about the G8 but he’s not sure about the final one.  He already has a working title, but that’s all.  He then went on to acknowledge that it possible is to stop the clock as James had pointed out earlier.

Again something that sounds like absolute from Rankin, only to be followed by another seed of doubt which keeps his fans guessing.  And guessing hard.  And hoping it’s not all over after these next two books...

James, a possible vested interest showing again here, asked if Rankin plans to retire Rebus or kill him off.

Now that led to a very interesting response.  Rankin plans to retire Rebus, but noted that Colin Dexter specifically planned to kill off Morse in order to avoid various kinds of harassment.  After all, a retired copper can be resurrected and that is apparently what Dexter wanted to avoid, hence The Remorseful Day and the absolute demise of Morse, who retired permanently from the world of excellent crime fiction and our collective imaginations.  (But only in so far as he still had a future, the books can be re-read and the TV episodes viewed again…)

James then noted that she starts to write a novel only when she has an idea that really excites her, to lead her on to writing a novel.

Rankin was then asked if he had a character in mind to take over from Rebus when he retires.

He said he has not thought of one.  He acknowledges that Siobhan could take over, but Rankin is not entirely happy with writing from a woman’s viewpoint, even though his neighbour, Alexander McCall Smith does it so well.

A Dalgleish fan then asked James about her thoughts on casting for the character. 

James made it clear that she has no say in the matter. She also said that she finds it difficult to say whether she agrees or disagrees.  She has consultation but that does not mean rights or approval.  James feels fortunate in the actors who have played Dalgliesh, but they create their own Dalgliesh and not hers.  She just wishes they wouldn’t change the dialogue in the script!  Finally with one comment, she ensured the audience realised that she never writes with an actor in mind or voice.  The Dalgliesh she created is in her head and not as we can see or hear from a screen somewhere.

And then of course, someone asked the question about the newly filmed TV adaptations of the Rebus books and questioned the casting…

Rankin has always asserted that he has not watched the previous TV versions, but hit with the question he was very quick to say, that actor, John Hannah had been bad casting, adding that he been too young and too pretty.  Then, someone in the stalls with far too easy access to a microphone said that with Ken Stott we would have a nice ugly man.  Rankin made the point that he will not watch the new episodes.

The authors were then asked, like Doyle and his character Sherlock Holmes, would they prefer to be remembered for books they had written, other than those with their series characters.  Rankin considers that Rebus is an interesting character and that he was lucky he came along, when he did.  His recently re-released novel, The Flood, is an example of the sort of novel he’d have written had Rebus not arrived in his imagination. 

Another member of the audience wanted to know how the authors arrive at the titles for their books.

James said that for her, titles are important and need to be memorable.  A Taste for Death had provided her with a tense moment.  For Innocent Blood she remembered once reading a piece of poetry that had the perfect quote, but when it came to it, she could not find that piece of poetry.  Luckily someone else saved the day for her.

Rankin, on the other hand, needs a book title before even working on the book.  It may be discarded by the publisher, but he needs one to start. He laughingly described keeping a stock of titles and trying again with the publisher on a previously rejected title, but to no avail.  The plot of the next Rebus book revolves around the G8 summit but he has no title in mind for that one yet, although for the next and final book, he does, albeit with no concrete idea of how the series will end.

The inevitable followed with a question about whether Rebus could become a private investigator.

Rankin was to the point.  No, Brits don’t do that very well.  UK PIs are seen as sleazy and seedy.

And what did Rankin think of the latest Rolling Stones album?

Well Rebus, like Rankin, has not heard it yet, so he can’t be disappointed one more time.

When asked who were the authors’ favourite detectives?

James immediately said The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins, following with a question to Rankin, "You don’t read much crime fiction do you?"  Rankin admitted that, unlike some crime writers, he did not come to the genre because he was a fan.  He maintained that he is not a big reader of and not that knowledgeable about crime or modern fiction.

Rankin quickly mentioned GB 84 by David Peace as a book he enjoyed and rated highly, adding that there is a good group of Scottish writers, including Denise Mina, Louise Welsh and Christopher Brookmyre.

James added, with some chuckling, that she once went to Italy to do a series of lectures arranged by the British Council and read two of her books in preparation.  On the flight over she realised that with one book she had got the murderer wrong.

Rankin and James were asked what would happen if their detectives met up.

Rankin asserted that cops distrust one another, so a cop from London and a cop from Edinburgh would distrust one another.  However, the preceding reputation of Dalgliesh would impact on Rebus, although he could never be into poetry.  James added that she saw Dalgliesh not imposing on Rebus and that there would be a great deal of mutual respect between the two detectives.  Rankin added that with G8, it was likely Dalgleish would have been in Edinburgh.  However, when it came to the real life story of Bush on a bicycle and a cop in the wrong place, the cop could only have been Rebus.  (A story Rankin thought had been reported in Scotland but not south of the border, at the time.)

A discussion followed about Rankin’s latest book, where he said he had to write a new book which showed he loved Edinburgh and Scotland in order to dampen the spirited accusations that he only shows the dark side.  The book, "Rebus’s Scotland" is about Scotland seen through Rebus’s eyes as well as his own, hence it is part autobiographical as well as biographical.  James’s book "Time to be in Earnest: A Fragment of Autobiography" was noted as an offer of something to readers, to deter writers who wished to pursue biographical works. 

The discussion was exceptionally lively, with an excellent and chatty rapport between James and Rankin, who can both jet out words at a comparable speed to a machine gun firing bullets.  The authors then moved to the theatre bar to sign copies of their books.

For those interested in Rankin’s work aside from writing, someone in the bar was quick to relay the fact that he is due to do another Newsnight programme on November 13.

As an aside, I don’t acknowledge the nice and ugly comment on Stott for Rebus, but I did spot this later:

http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=810&id=2072832005

If anyone has any doubts about Stott leaving behind the cop roles of Metcalfe (Messiah) and Chappell (The Vice), then it’s clear here that the haircut/hairstyle is different.  However, I really can’t imagine Rebus being quite so bouffant.  It takes one of those small diameter, completely round brushes to get that sort of elevation to your locks.  I cannot imagine Rebus owning one; neither can I imagine Rebus letting someone else armed with one getting near his head.  But the dark and dishevelled look from the neck down, as well as the facial expression and lack of a recent shave, work for me!

P D James - The Lighthouse - talks and signings

The new book by P D James is on sale from 10 October, so my Faber and Faber newsletter tells me.  It takes Commander Adam Dalgliesh down to the Cornwall coast...

She will be signing at Hatchards, Picadilly, London on Tuesday 11th at 12:30pm and at Waterstone's Picadilly on Thursday 27th at 7pm, where she will also discuss the new book. Cost for the latter is £3.

P D James is also sharing the stage with Ian Rankin at the Everyman Theatre in the Cheltenham Literary Festival on Wednesday 12th at 6.30pm.  (Tickets £8.)  The two authors are "...united at last to discuss two of the nation's most intriguing detectives: Rebus and Dalgliesh."

http://www.cheltenhamfestivals.co.uk/

October reading and Michael Connelly events in the UK - a reminder

October is a month of many “weeks”.  For example, it’s “learn to sign week” between the 3^rd and 9^th:

http://www.signcommunity.org.uk/

It’s Back Care Awareness Week from the 17^th to the 23^rd. 

http://www.backcare.org.uk/newsevents/awarenessweek/

It’s also a whole month of “pink” and breast cancer awareness:

http://www.breakthrough.org.uk/

For various reasons, all these charities and events hold some significance for me, therefore I urge you to increase your awareness, at the very least.

And now, for October reading:

As Michael Connelly is pond hopping again for the launch of “The Lincoln Lawyer” and because I’m so behind with my reading, I’ve picked up “The Narrows”, to be followed ASAP by “The Closers”.  Then I’ll be back on track and hope to get my hands on “The Lincoln Lawyer” before the month is out.  (Signed would be nice, but I’m not sure I can get to any of the signings mentioned below.)

If I’m honest, I picked up something else earlier last week; I won’t tell you what, because it didn’t grab me on the first few pages in the way “The Narrows” did on Thursday night.  I’m hooked.  And I needed a good hook, after the race that was the last 100 pages of Minette Walters’s “The Devil’s Feather”.  (And the withdrawal symptoms that followed…)

A reminder of the signings:

http://itsacrime.typepad.com/its_a_crime_or_a_mystery/2005/08/more_on_michael.html