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

Merry Christmas! (And end of year summary.)

Whoever is reading, I wish you a merry Christmas, happy new year and the very best for 2008!

Thanks to all the delightfully generous authors who participated in the recent "Books for Christmas" series.  Thanks to all who have supported this site in whatever shape or form, during 2007.  Finally, personally, thanks to all who have supported me and my family in 2007 with messages of kindness.

Oscar and I will be off soon for a proper Welsh Christmas.  For some it involves this:

And you can read more about that here.   

Aren't they brave?

Or are they simply bloody mad?

Was this pre- or post- Christmas lunch?

But, for Oscar and I, a traditional Welsh family Christmas is more likely to involve this:

But without the candles.

And his Christmas turkey lunch will need to be cut up into small pieces before being placed in a stainless steel bowl with lots of gravy.  (Before I even get a look in on mine...)

And we will see lots of family, friends and neighbours.

And no doubt, I will forget something...

That's par for the course.

There might be some TV watching involved, especially the Dr Who special.  Not for Kylie you understand; it's that male form in the name of David Tennant that grabs my attention every time.  That Tate woman (I think you can watch the whole of the impending Christmas show by keeping up with the endless, ad nauseam BBC trailers for her gig...) suggested Tennant's tour de force was about to come to an end in 2008, but it's all stuff and nonsense, so he says. 

Sorry, but I could not help adding this pic.

I think Tennant is a lovely, generous man.  And as you can see, kids love him.

The Welsh have taken this Scot into their hearts.

I saw him interviewed on Parky during 2007 and loved his sense of humour.

For someone in the public eye, that man remains grounded, as could also be seen in his exploration into his roots in the BBC TV series "Who do you think you are?" which took him to Ireland.  A brilliant programme.  Anyone unsure of the history of Ireland and Northern Ireland would do well to watch it.

Anyway, this year Dr Who has a story set on the Titanic and the Titanic's demise is a subject that has always fascinated me.  Like others, I don't think it was just the iceberg.  I can't help but feel foul play was involved somewhere.  Even then, companies had an image to maintain. Did they have to take that route?  Did they have to go that fast?

But I digress.

The gorgey boy, aka Oscar, (here he is in all his stupendously glossy glory) will sleep a lot this Christmas, when not eating, and I will read.

One novel I'm sure to read and I'm looking forward to it, is R. N. Morris's (Roger's) A Vengeful Longing, which those wonderful people at Faber & Faber will thrust into the market in early February.

Amazon doesn't have the cover picture yet, but you can see it here:

courtesy of Roger's plog.

This novel is first and foremost original and unusual in that it's summer in St Petersburg.

Anything I've come across before that is set in Russia always has snow.  Loads of it.  Makes it easier to see the blood.

But, in A Vengeful Longing we have summer and poisonings.

It all sounds claustrophobic to me.

And Roger will have a good story to tell, I'm sure.

But before then, I must finish K O Dahl's The Fourth Man, as I'm on the last chapters.

This is my first foray into Scandinavian crime fiction.

It's good, but I had my suspicions and I simply had to peep at the ending before getting there.

I will say no more for now, but I will say a lot more in January.

And there will be no spoilers.

2007 has been a bumper year for crime fiction.  Some think that originality is a hard thing to find, but if you look for it you will find it.  In the latter part of 2007 I have read a few novels that I am yet to post about.  All are entertaining and original in their own ways:

• Bernard Knight's The Noble Outlaw grabbed my attention and made me realise that crime fiction set pre-World War II (my usual cut off-point) can enthrall.  (Knight's series has a medieval setting, in case you haven't guessed from the title.) And oh, he does love to explore the food of the times.  Even Nigella Express's forays into the canned and bottled world seem inviting after Knight's introduction to medieval feasts.  Thank you, but I'll take a rain check, Prof Knight.
• Zoe Sharp's Second Shot took me into the world of the UK private eye and the "protection" economy.  An easy fast-paced read, crossing the Atlantic to Boston and its surrounds, this novel can grip your insides in more ways than one.  Should I win the lottery in the UK, I now have some idea of the risk management tactics I would need to employ.
• Matt Rees's The Bethlehem Murders took me to a place I'd only seen in the news, when it comes to living in the now.  I have a good and dear friend who is Muslim, so it came as no surprise when I read the story of Omar Yussef and read his situation of plight.  Yussef is the crux of consciousness and justice in a world that denies its recognition.  You can't help but love him and want more of him, for his values.  And there is more to come...
• I hope that J. F. Englert's A Dog about Town puts to rest the cynicism that gathers over the crime fiction novels that involve mammals other than the human species as protagonists.  Here, Randolph, a chocolate Labrador-Retriever is a professor-type representing our furry, four-legged friends. He's sentient and highly intelligent.  His master is cast astray emotionally by the loss of his partner, Randolph's original owner.  But then, there is a mystery and much humour.  And what lovely humour.

More of these in the new year that is 2008.

And if you're so struggling this festive season that you've read to here and have even left a comment, all I can say is "Remember your family, each and every one of them, however far removed".  Make contact with them.  It's Christmas.  Don't wait for another family funeral to exchange words.

We all have a blessing in life and can find it if we open our eyes.  And remember that's "in life" not "post life".  Make every minute count.

Me and the gorgey boy will now be away until that slovenly period that is post-Christmas and pre-New Year, gorging on turkey meat and other things, and this year thinking of our spiritual side for the first time in ages.  It's hard to lose those you love most in life; it's hard to lose both your parents in the same year.

We shall remember my parents on this occasion.  It cannot be otherwise.

Have a good Christmas everyone and all the best for 2008!

See you in the new year, if not before...

My very best to you,

CFR

2008's Booker Prize - The Judges

Having bashed the Booker Prize in 2007 for being unexciting and a damp squib, this week has seen the announcement of the judges for 2008, along with commentary from John Sutherland in the Guardian's Book blog (he asks if Portillo will actually have the time).  As Chairman, joining judges comedian Hardeep Singh Kohli, Ottakar's bookshops founder James Heneage, critic Alex Clark and novelist Louise Doughty will be former politician, former Costa Book Prize judge, now political pundit on Andrew Neil's This Week programme: Michael Portillo.

Michael and friend.

I think the line up looks sound and I suspect that Portillo will add a little zest to the proceedings.  I don't expect he'll follow in Howard Davies's footsteps with pronouncements of criticism.

1997 was a cathartic year for Portillo, but since then he's provided an excellent example in finding humility.  And the man has presence and charisma.  I once saw him walking along Chiswick High Road - heard him before I saw - he commands attention.

Somehow he manages to look a bit twee on the sofa on This Week which results in Diane Abbott looking like a bit of a curmudgeon alongside him.

One thing's for sure with Portillo, he's not necessarily a "what you see is what you get" type, so 2008's Booker Prize will have some spice added.

Whether it actually gets exciting will depend on the books of course.

Other books for Christmas: non-crime

For foodies:

Having previously enjoyed Nigel Slater's Toast (The Story of a Boy's Hunger), I keenly picked up Eating for England: The Delights and Eccentricities of the British at Table.  This is a book of the same style as Toast, it's Nigel Slater reminiscing about food as well as commenting on today's eating habits.  The book is essentially a series of random vignettes with headings such as Oxo Cubes; The Midnight Feast; The Tight-Arse Cook; Tipping, as Only the Brits Know How; Pre-Jamie Man; Post-Jamie Man; Colman's Mustard.  Here's a sample from The Extravagant Cook:

"... Men tend to show off in food shops in a way women don't.  Two men, finding themselves at the deli counter at the same time, will act as if they are side by side at the traffic lights, each one revving up while surreptitiously eyeing the other's vehicle (in this case the BMW and the Audi have been temporarily swapped for wire baskets).

"... A dinner party with the extravagant shopper is a non-stop exhibition of ego-cooking.  The best ingredients, the flashiest recipes and, actually, quite sound cooking, albeit done on a cooker that wouldn't look out of place at Gordon Ramsay's.  It's the culinary equivalent of driving a Porsche Cayenne."

Food and humour are always good and Slater does not disappoint.

For pure torrent-of-tear inducing laughter:

Must Try Harder!: The Very Worst Howlers by Schoolchildren pulls together a selection of slippery slip ups made by schoolchildren when writing.  Norman McGreevy, a school teacher has compiled this very funny collection.

I came across this book when picking up the Daily Mail in my mother's hospital ward: they had excerpts from it in a feature.  I started to read them out.  My mother and I were in stitches, tears running down our cheeks.  And then the other ladies in the ward started listening, so we caused a bit of light and merry disruption.  It just might be that this book is of more use than your average painkiller.  Here are some examples:

"While rowing up river I slumped over the whores in a state of physical exhaustion."

"Adolescence is the stage between puberty and adultery."

"If you cross XY and XX chromosones, you get XX (female), YY (male) and XY (undecided)."

"Louis XVI was gelatined to death."

"When Elizabeth exposed herself before her troops, they all shouted, 'hurrah'.  Then her navy went out and defeated the Spanish Armadillo."

"The wife of a duke is a dukky."

"All the crew were taken into custardy."

"A consonant is a large piece of land surrounded by water."

And finally one for the wonderful Norm at CRIMESCRAPS:

"If teeth are not cleaned, plague is the result."

Books for Christmas - my picks & honorable mentions

2007 has been quite a year for the crime fiction reader.  We've been lucky enough to experience many début crime novels, as the new develop on what has come before.  The tried and tested takes on a new tangent with these brave authors and for that they should be commended.  Originality is always welcome, as "same old, same old" is as boring as Christmas TV repeats ("Pass the bucket, dear!").

If I really thought I could get away saying this novel is crime fiction I would make it my crime pick of the year, but as I said here, it's the hardest in the series to make the fit.

John Lawton's Second Violin, the latest in his Troy series is simply a class act.

Second Violin brings wonderful writing; evocative, realistic setting in respect to time and places across Europe; the usual mix of eccentric characters and a story bursting with intelligence.

But to consider crime fiction in its pure form, there is one novel that particularly stays in my mind this year.  And when I say "pure", I'm pushing the boat out a little here as it comes from the sub-genre of comic crime (not an easy one to make a success in).

L C Tyler's The Herring Seller's Apprentice is memorable because of its intelligent cracking comic prose, its believable and hilarious characters (especially from the world of publishing), and its ... er, nice line in red herrings.

In what has been a dark year for me for personal reasons, I read this novel at quite a pace and it provided a very welcome period of light relief, escapism and laughter.  It's the first novel I've ever read out over the phone to friends.  (Not the whole thing, just bits of it - I'm not attempting to kick start another career in the audio book world, you understand.)

Where Ethelred Tressider the writer was the protagonist in The Herring Seller's Apprentice, Elsie Thirkettle his literary agent side-kick was such a strong character with great potential for more development and storylines, I'd really love to be reading more of her in the future.  I don't think this is the route that Len Tyler is taking, but I can dream.  Whatever comes next from Len, the quality of the writing will be assured; this début did not read like one at all and its originality will have you sitting up and taking notice.

Now, for the honorable mentions:

Books for Christmas - Joanna Hines

Joanna Hines, author of crime fiction and historicals, including The Murder Bird and Surface Tension two novels I've particularly enjoyed this year, presents her pick for the season:

"It’s impossible to identify a ‘best’ crime novel for 2007 - there have been so many good ones. So I’m going to focus on one that is still fresh in my mind and which, because I read it some time after paperback publication date, I’ve been unable to review elsewhere. The Dead Hour, by Denise Mina, has been a wonderful discovery.

Glasgow in 1984 and Paddy Meehan is working the night shift for the local paper, which involves listening to the police radio and following up likely stories. She’s from a Catholic family, her father has been unemployed for four years and she is the only one of four children still living at home to be bringing in a wage. The police have been called to a ‘domestic disturbance’ and Paddy catches a brief glimpse of a frightened, battered woman before the ‘husband’ presses a fifty pound note into her hand, buying her silence. The two police on the scene, who have also been paid off, describe her as ‘only wee Meehan’. After they leave, the woman is brutally murdered. It becomes a matter of personal pride for Paddy to find who killed her.

‘Only wee Meehan’ is a wonderful protagonist. The nature of her work means that she suffers from constant sleep deprivation ‘like a fever, shifting the turn of her eye, moving everything slightly sideways’. Overweight and scruffy, she is frequently underestimated, but she has toughness, humour and integrity. Denise Mina writes brilliantly, and the story doesn’t flag for a moment. A terrific read."

Books for Christmas - Anne Brooke

Anne Brooke UK killer queen of the gay novel, crime or other, (she is making her mark in this sub-genre), seeks to bring something a little more offbeat to you this Christmas, and here we have her enthusiastic words on the matter at hand:

"Louise Welsh's The Bullet Trick is simply THE must-read crime book of your Christmas list.  William Wilson is a down-and-out conjurer who's seen better days by far, but when he's unexpectedly booked for a series of gigs in Berlin, he thinks his luck has changed.  There, amongst the shady characters and glamour girls of Berlin, he's confident of abandoning his past.  But his secrets are too powerful to let him go.

The story is utterly gripping - dark and vibrant, bleak and punchy.  With an oh-so-sympathetic anti-hero, whom you grow to love hugely through the story.  The novel successfully bridges the gap between masterful crime novel and literary tour-de-force; not only are we taken on a thrilling journey, but we are also led on a quest for redemption and, ultimately, truth.  Not only that but the ending is one of the most powerful and poignant I've read in a long, long time.  I love it when a book like this comes along - it makes my skin tingle and makes me feel truly alive.  I was devastated when I finished it, and I'm still thinking about it.  Buy it; you won't regret it!"

Click on this link to purchase The Bullet Trick, if you are persuaded.  Anne Brooke regularly blogs with staggering honesty right here.

Books for Christmas - Debi Alper

Debi Alper, author of "Nirvana Bites" and "Trading Tatiana", edgy London-based crime thriller novels, took some time out from her own family's festive celebration of Hanukkah to offer up her "best read for 2007":

"I'm going to cheat a bit on the genre with my contribution.  Lonely Werewolf Girl by Martin Millar would probably fit more neatly on the fantasy than the crime shelves, but I'm choosing it anyway on the grounds that:

1. 1. Crimes certainly do take place within its pages.
2. 2. It's without doubt the best book I've read this year.

Martin has created an entire werewolf culture, complete with history, dynasties and the most memorable cast of characters I've come across for many a long year.  These colourful immortal characters interact with the human world in the most delightful way (cross-dressing werewolves and fashion obsessed elementals rubbing shoulders with all-too-human grungy but kind students).  These characters - both human and otherwise - make you wish you knew them in real life, even though some of them are prone to mood swings and ... er ... ripping throats out.

The book also works as an allegory on alienation that every non-werewolf who had ever felt like an outsider will be able to relate to.

As if this is not enough to tempt you, Martin has managed to make a story that has undoubtedly gory moments into something wonderfully gentle and sweet.  I'm envious!"

Martin Millar and his novel can also be found on MySpace.  Debi blogs regularly here.

Books for Christmas 2007

Yes, I have two more to post in this series and will do this tomorrow.  I'll also provide my own selection at the end of it (and it will be a selection, I assure you - not only crime fiction, too).  Sorry for the delay and interruption, but I've been dealing with a very close bereavement that hurt me to extremes.  Life changes and sometimes unexpectedly and sometimes not as we'd embrace, should we have a choice in the matter.  Christmas this year will not be the same; it will be forceably different.  I will experience it without any anchor as my immediate family has now departed.

If they can listen and if they are listening in, I'm sure my parents will hear my call "It's all bloody repeats on the telly again" again.  They've heard it, even expressed it, many times before.  And I'll find succour in reading, when not cooking.

But back to books.  I promise a curve ball when it comes to Christmas selections.  And, as they say here in Wales, "Never forget you're Welsh".  So, in addition to the Welsh theme, there will be humour (a font of life) and the usual crime selections.

And if I don't manage this again before the important DATE of 25/12, I do wish you all a very wonderful Christmas and all the very best in 2008!

If we didn't manage it in 2007, I hope we meet up in 2008.

My best wishes to everyone who drops by to read here, and especially those who comment and/or email me,

You make great friends,

With love,

R, aka crimeficreader

Child Literacy in the UK

Amanda Ross, producer of the Richard & Judy Channel 4 show, delivered a petition to number 10 this week, urging greater efforts to get children reading.  The Times tells us that she led a delegation of leading authors to number 10.  According to my count, some 546 authors signed the petition.  Here is the letter, copied from The Times:

Dear Mr Brown,

As authors, we are deeply concerned at the low levels of childhood literacy across Britain. Official figures suggest that around one in five children leave their primary schools at the age of 11 unable to read to the minimum standard required of their age group.

In a complex world, reading has become increasingly important — if not crucial. As the Department for Culture, Media and Sport has pointed out: “People cannot be active or informed citizens unless they can read. Reading is a prerequisite for almost all cultural and social activities”. The International Reading Association puts it more bluntly: “Adolescents entering the adult world in the 21st century will read and write more than at any other time in human history. They will need advanced levels of literacy to perform their jobs, run their households, act as citizens, and conduct their personal lives.”

We, the undersigned, are therefore pleased to lend our support to Channel 4's “Lost for Words” campaign, which aims to get all our kids reading. The fact of the matter is that all children in mainstream schools are capable of learning to read — and so all children should be taught to read in school, for an hour every day, until they are able to read properly.

In fact, everyone who cares about the future of our children's education needs to ask: What more can we do? A year ago, for example, half the children at Monteagle Primary School in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham were more than a year behind where they should have been in their reading levels. Twelve months on, after a concerted effort by staff, parents and pupils, the school has managed to cut this level of functional illiteracy by half and doubled the number of children who are reading to their age-appropriate levels or above.

The reality is that the issue of childhood literacy transcends party politics and ideological divisions — and unites all of us who care about the future of our children. You have said that “every child is special, every child precious and therefore no child should be left behind”. It's time to focus on the push to get all our kids reading to make this happen.

Yours faithfully,

...

You can find out more about Channel 4's "Lost for Words" season of campaigning programmes to get all our kids reading here.

I can't help but feel this is left dangling a bit, but perhaps we will see more reporting in due course. 

Some festival news for 2008: Harrogate and Hay

Firstly the Hay Festival, because I do love a bit of controversy.  An email sent out on 29/11 to coincide with the mini-Winter festival ended with a note on recent signings for next year:

"Newly signed for the Hay Festival in May 2008 are Cherie Booth QC, John Irving and Mohamed ElBaradei."

Honestly, I'd need a free ticket and wild horses to drag me there for a certain lady...

The 2008 Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival ("Harrogate" to some) was recently launched to gathered media.  I commend them for further improved organisation this year in letting people know the full line up this early - it helps to plan a visit and decide on ticket bookings.  Special guests include Andy McNab, Peter Robinson, Robert Crais, Jeffery Deaver and Tess Gerritsen.  The full line up can be seen on this page, but here's a repeat of it, just in case you're all clicked out:

Jeff Abbott

Lin Anderson

MC Beaton

Simon Beckett

Michel Benoit

Mark Billingham

Paul Blezard

Sam Bourne

Simon Brett

Fiona Bruce

Chelsea Cain

C.J. Carver

Ann Cleeves

John Connor

Thomas H Cook

Natasha Cooper

Colin Cotteril

Robert Crais

Jeffery Deaver

Stella Duffy

Martin Edwards

Joseph Finder

Frances Fyfield

Meg Gardiner

Tess Gerritsen

Allan Guthrie

Peter Guttridge

Steven Hague

Jacqui Hames

David Hewson

Jane Hill

Quintin Jardine

Paul Johnston

Roger Jon Ellory

Simon Kernick

Philip Kerr

Chris Kuzneski

Mark Lawson

Kolton Lee

Peter Lovesey

Shona MacLean

Suart MacBride

Nigel McCrery

Val McDermid

Andy McDermott

Cody McFadyen

Andy McNab

Catriona McPherson

Denise Mina

Barbara Nadel

Jo Nesbo

Charlie Owen

Jill Paton Walsh

Anne Perry

John Rickards

Tom Rob Smith

Peter Robinson

Catherine Sampson

Dreda Say Mitchell

Frank Schatzing

Claire Seeber

E.V. Seymour

Chris Simms

Johan Theorin

Martyn Waites

Laura Wilson