THE MAN WHO DISAPPEARED by CLAIRE MORRAL

Kate is very comfortably off, settled with her home and family. A respectable hard working husband who is a good provider, a decent father and a likable husband. Two youngsters - both in private schools doing exceptionally well in rugby and academics respectively with friends of their own, no bad habits, no hanging out with gangs etc.

Turn your life upside down. You go away on a short break in connection with your studies and you return to find your husband's face splashed on every paper in the country and beyond. You are stopped at Immigration and Customs in Canada for questioning. You have papparazzi hanging outside your bedroom windows waiting for a glimpse of you and the children or waiting to interview anyone who knew you even remotely to get some kind of idea of what is happening to Felix Kendall the mastermind behind the money laundering business that has been going on for a decade.

I thought the story was a good one, very plausible and very happening. It somehow took off till midway and then when it should have got better and better, it somehow fell flat. Where it could have got exciting and held you in thrall with what was going to happen next - Kate falling on bad times, moving to a council flat, Felix missing and then turning up, the papparazzi in full force again, the reason behind his absconding and the general fall out on the family as a result of the upheaval somehow was rather dull.

An excellent story but midway I lost interest in the reading as it lacked punch.  I did finish it though.

THE ABBEY by CHRIS CULVER

This was a new author for me. Ash Rashid is a detective who prays daily as a Muslim should but also one who consumes alcohol. A family man with a loving wife and a loveable daughter he is also a law student as he intends getting out of the police and into the law side of things.

Drawn into a homicide/murder when his own niece is murdered Rashid is unwittingly drawn into an even bigger net of so called vampires, business mafia and big money where a murder or murders of even teenagers is a very small problem for big sharks like what we are dealing with.

Ash's search for the truth behind his niece's killing leads him to so much danger to not just him but also his family. Even his own police department betrays him again and again and he cannot imagine the corruption that is found in the local police who not just turn a blind eye to what is happening but deliberately leak information so that more and more people are put in mortal danger. The brutality of police action is very clearly displayed and if they could act like this for one of their own, I dread to think how they would act against others.

A bit of the story also deals with the difficulties that people of the Muslim faith have in mainstream America. That in itself is a touchy topic and being a Muslim cop must be the most difficult balancing trick there is. Antagonism is high against Muslims everywhere - this we cannot deny and Culver handles the subject very delicately.

This is Culver's first novel and the story and writing was good. I found it very matter of fact, the style of writing that is and it took some getting used to. But I did finish the book.

MAILBOX MONDAY/IT'S MONDAY! WHAT ARE YOU READING?

Hosted at Mailbox Monday blog in October. I had a very nice haul this week.

The first was a delightful win from Judith - thank you Judith.

 

Dawn French - how I love her TV programme - I am sure to enjoy the book as well.

 

Three women - three different lives and relationships.  These Foolish Things by Imogen Parker.

Part fairy tale, part mystery a story set in 1960s Britain. An author I have read before.

Grace's life is crumbling around her along with the dilapidated house gifted to her by her godmother. How is she going to climb out of this mess and get on with her life. A Katie Fforde book

The blurb says What would you do if your husband disappears and you then discover he is a criminal? Intriguing book by Claire Morrall

Rashid is a investigator for the police. He is just waiting to give up his job until the body of his 17 year old niece turns up. What does a officer do when it becomes so personal? A Chris Culver read. New author for me.

 

 

The other Monday meme is It's Monday What Are You Reading? hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.

 

I got a fair amount of reading done this last week but only two reviews up. Work got in the way of blogging.

 

The books I am reading right now are Human Croquet and still trying to get to grips with Anil's Ghost from last week.

 

We are having rainy weather to the extent that we now have floods in three districts in the country. This is always the case in our country. First unbearable drought, no drinking water even and then rains to the point of floods and misery, loss of crops, so many people homeless. It has been drizzling steadily in Colombo from last night and it still hasn't stopped. I have no problem with the rains at all but I do feel sorry for paddy farmers as fields have been just plowed and sown and excess water is not good for rice cultivation.

 

 

 

 

 

THE GENDARME by MARK T. MUSTIAN

Emmett Conn is 92 years old and living in the United States. He is originally a Turkish immigrant who plays down his roots. He has also buried his past history deep in the recesses of his mind - and now at this stage of his life certain events have a constant replay bringing him anguish and guilt over his part in the genocide and how he behaved as a youngster when he was a gendarme in the Turkish army.


Emmett begins to have these dreams, and specially the part played by Araxie an Armenian girl with whom he fell in love with and the period when he was taking his group of refugees to Syria. The violence, the deaths, the murders is this what actually happened and what he has forced himself to forget or is this a dream of his and just that a dream? Emmett is beginning to lose his grip both physically and mentally (he is now suffering with a brain tumour) and he is wanting to make contact with Araxie and beg her forgiveness for his part in her sufferring. How Emmett successfully makes contact with Araxie's grand daughter is also part of this story - what was interesting is that he successfully managed to evade the nurses at a psychiatric facility where he was admitted to get away to New York to track down Araxie.


I had no knowledge of the Armenian genocide nor of the forced deportation of Armenians to Syria, their fate at the hands of both Turks and Syrians. Neither was I aware that this is one part of history that Turks do not mention as it is for them something unpleasant that happened over a hundred years ago and is now best forgotton. I doubt that the children and grandchildren of those who survived look on the Armenian genocide in quite that way. I was very glad of the footnote that I found at the end of the book by the author giving details of the genocide and a small, potted history of the Armenians. It certainly added to my understanding of the story.

The author deals with the past and the present in this story. We have flashbacks to the actual period of the genocide and then to the present context in America and the life Emmett leads now. The comparison and contrast goes on throughout the book. The past is so linked with the present - though it is only in Emmett's own world which he has obviously not shared even with his children. The two parts of his life are in two compartments and linking them together is what has brought about the upheaval in his mind.

This was a very provoking read for me. Discrimination of the kind faced by the Armenians is very much alive today - having finished a civil war in my own country we are more than ever aware of this.  Even a few voices in dissent against such discrimination will always help.

A TRAITOR TO MEMORY by ELIZABETH GEORGE

This mystery by Elizabeth George is slightly different from her others. The focus here is not on the famous Lynley and his partners Nkata and Havers but rather on a character in the story - not the victim of the murder itself but another equally important one. Gideon is a music prodigy who has been playing the violin since the age of seven and now finds himself unable to even hold the instrument. Why this has happened now and when it will change no one knows.

On the other hand we have our murder victim. Eugenia is a hit and run victim it seems but it is only the appearance of a hit and run incident. We then find out that she was run over three times by the same driver and her body thrown to the side of the road.  We subsequently have several murders running in the same vein inexplicably not linked with each other. The person who was the first on the scene of Eugenia's accident was also someone whose address was in Eugenia's purse. Was so much coincidence possible or is there some hidden hand in all this.

The other feature that was different is that the very professional Inspector Lynley jeopardises his honour and professional integrity in the face of a find in the murder investigation which is linked to someone known to him personally and he deliberately suppresses the information also involving his partner Havers in the subterfuge. Very unlike and different to the usual.

This book is slightly slower than her usual books and the book is huge at 800 pages, but it is nevertheless a page turner and you do want to know what is happening to the investigation. I also
liked the writing of a journal throughout the book and its throwback to incidents in the past.

A good read for mystery murder fans.
 

INTO THE WILDERNESS by SARA DONATI

Set in 1792 the entire story covers a period of American history which I know absolutely nothing about. Elizabeth sets out from England to reunite with her father - a judge - in a very remote part of New York and establish a home and a settled life for herself. At 29, she sees herself as a spinster and one who is very content with her state of life. A school teacher by profession, she hopes to establish a school for the children of Paradise, New York - even a small one - because she knows this is where her satisfaction will lie.

Life never turns out the way you think it should be! Elizabeth falls in love with Nathaniel a white man but one who thinks, feels and lives like a native American Indian having been brought up with them his entire life.  His feelings and loyalties are to his clan and he will do anything and everything to protect them from the vagaries of war, the animosity and fear of the white man (the feelings of animosity and fear are absolutely mutual here).

Telling more would be spoilers but detailed descriptions of American native life, its customs and the way nature is so much part of their lives makes this a very good book. Apart from native Americans, the way of life of the white settlers is far from easy and how they adapted to this rugged, harsh land is amazing. The determination to make new lives and to survive and prosper must be part of the indomitable spirit of this age. They took a raw land nurtured it, settled it and turned it into a very livable environment for all. 

I also liked the very small cross reference to Jamie, Ian and Claire from the Gabaldon series. They were just mentioned in passing but it was nice to see them again!

I enjoyed this book.

DOCTORED EVIDENCE by DONNA LEON

 

 

I like the Commissionaire of Police here - Brunetti is everything you would expect not of a police inspector but he is very much like Inspector Lynley of P D James and he has got an added plus of loving his food and someone who is knowledgeable about food as well. The descriptions of some of the meals is mouthwatering.

 

The story centres around an elderly lady - a person who is very unpopular, someone who is a nasty piece of work. She is found brutally murdered in her apartment and the Romanian maid has absconded. The maid is the obvious suspect and the case is closed satisfactorily and speedily.

Two weeks later we have a neighbour returning from a trip to London who is adamant that the maid is not responsible. She also comes up with alibi as well as supporting evidence believed only by Brunetti and no one else. Why does this neighbour help this maid whom she does not know at all and why go to all this trouble.

 

With the help of the highly efficient and discreet Signorina Elettra and her hacking into web sites and computers of everything and everyone we unravel the mystery so far removed from what we imagine.

 

Venice mouthwateringly described adds to the books attraction for me!