Work for Idle Hands

• The Saffron Thief by T. L. Mogford
  This is a true adventure story in the very best sense - and I think to have it praised by William Boyd says enough in itself as he is such a skilled and renowned narrative storyteller.
  The protagonist Fabian is a well-meaning young man, seemingly with an excellent moral compass, and yet he is driven to - and seems surprisingly quickly committed to - pulling off something akin to the Brinks Matt Robbery of its time. I'm a bit unsure about the overall basic morality of his endeavour - just because you are surrounded with scoundrels and criminals and they have in fact cheated you out of large sums of money does not in my opinion give you carte blanch to do the same to others (even if they in their turn are pretty awful characters as well!). However, none of this detracts from this pacey page-turning tale full of suspense and derring-do (almost). I have more of a leaning towards mystery stories entwined with my historical fiction, but I read this in the space of a couple of sittings which speaks to its compelling nature.
  Fabian and his family have had the misfortune to lose everything due to the great fire of London - compounded by his brother's stupidity. The opening chapters of the book describe the devastation brought about in London in 1666 and the story follows on throughout that year with the action moving from London to Saffron Walden and provides fascinating historical detail about the saffron trade. The saffron business is on a par with the wool trade of a slightly earlier period (about which I am slightly more educated), where it's really hard to believe that such an underappreciated product these days could have been responsible for such enormous riches at that time - and the demise of both trades being so relatively sudden and devastating. Back to this story, though, prices are at their peak and fortune favours the brave (or the criminally minded...).
  [I note that the authors earlier books are a crime series, so I am very much looking forward to seeing if I will like them in the future.]


• A Shilling for Candles by Josephine Tey [Read by Karen Cass]
  A celebrated Hollywood actress is found to have drowned while swimming in the sea near her holiday retreat. Given that she swims every day, murder is soon indicated, and suspicion falls upon her handsome but impoverished young house guest, who has charm but has squandered his small inheritance over a few years of living beyond his means. DI Alan Grant feels he isn't guilty (as does the local superintendent's young daughter..!) even when he goes on the run, but Grant has to keep an open mind and follow the evidence.
  There are a lot of shady characters and other potential suspects but the final denouement was a nice plot twist. [I had assumed that the "shilling for candles" was some proverb unknown to me, but in fact it was the sum the victim left to her sinister brother in her will.]


• Resurrection Walk by Michael Connelly [Read by Christine Lakin, Peter Giles, Titus Welliver]
  During his time in prison in The Law of Innocence, Mickey Haller had to deal with some requests for legal advice from fellow inmates. He successfully helped one overturn his conviction, and this led to a kind of pact between Mickey and Harry (despite his general disapproval of Mickey's defence lawyer's code of "any tactics to win a not guilty verdict"). They would look at some old cases where they felt justice had not been served - and then act for the defendant "pro bono". The case in the story was made more difficult as the defendant was half way through serving her sentence, having agreed to a guilty plea bargain.
  All the gang were involved, hence the multiple narrators.
  Excellent.
  

Posted by Christina at 5:18 pm | Category: Art and Culture, Books of the Month | Permalink