Monday August 31st, 2020
Books in August
- The Bat by Jo Nesbo [read by Seán Barrett]
I finally started on Jo Nesbo's Harry Hole series, and - as everyone else already knows - it is gripping.
I recently bought a film version of The Snowman starring Michael Fassbender (now that I actually know who he is) and I gather that alcoholism is a key feature of Harry's life. However, in listening to this first outing, I had hoped it was a tale of love and redemption - but for a series, where would be the fun in that? (I suppose). - Fallen Angel by Christopher Brookmyre
[read by Cathleen McCarron]
This is a warm tale with a good mystery at its heart and packed with unlikely coincidences - so much so that (in combination with the ending) these days Chris Brookmyre books approach 18th century plays like Wild Oats or, the more contemporary satire, What the Butler Saw.... But don't get me wrong - I'm all for it.
While this can't be regarded as one of the Jack Parlabane canon, he does make a cameo appearance. - The Baby Snatcher by Ann Cleeves
[read by Simon Mattacks]
This is the final book in the Inspector Ramsay series from the 1990s, coming after The Healers. Had I realised it was a series I might have taken more trouble to listen to them in sequence. However Ramsay is not so dominant as a character as to overshadow the stories themselves, and there are many reflections and insights into the lives of the other participants in the tale. [This is also very much true of the Vera series, but I like her so much and she has such depth as a chracter that I do find myself holding my breath until she appears].
This seems to me quite an unusual story line with each player having his/her own wholly plausible motivations and obsessions - some with relevance to the murder mystery and some red herrings, though every red herring is a neat little story line in its own right.
