Thursday, 21 November 2024

A Couple of short(ish) reviews


Catching up a bit today. First up, The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett. It took me a week to read this and I'm not sure why, although it is quite densely written and a trifle complicated! Describing it is going to be fun...

So, the first thing to know about this book is that it's a mixed genre novel and the two genres are fantasy and crime fiction. So it's odd. (Huge understatement!) This is an organic plants/tree world. Walls of houses are made of something made from ferns for instance, you can cool your house with a kind of large mushroom... and grass, plants trees etc. are also a way of killing someone. Dinios Kol, an 'engraver' - meaning he's been altered to possess a photographic memory - and assistant investigator, is called to a house of one of the wealthy families of the region. A man has been killed by a kind of contagion using tree spores and his mutilated body is now part of a tree. (I did say it was odd...) 'Din' works for chief investigator, Ana Dolabra, an older eccentric woman who keeps herself blindfold most of the time and doesn't much like to leave her house. Engraver, Din, is her eyes and ears. It's soon transpires that this death is not the only one that's happened in this manner, recently, and Din and Ana have to travel to another, more dangerous, region to find out more. So, the back-drop to this story is that the coastal area where all this is going on is constantly under attack from Leviathans from the sea, sea-monsters in other words. The blood from these creatures is used to 'augment' the population if they so wish, change various aspects of their bodies, so you can have someone who is very strong, very intelligent or, like Din, an engraver with a photographic memory. There's definitely a Roman Empire slant as well, and some people see a Holmes/Watson relationship in the two main investigators. I personally didn't see much of that, in fact I was reminded more of Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin but I think that's probably just me as I haven't seen anyone else mention it. This certainly wins the 'Weirdest Book of the Year' award for me and I read quite a bit of weird fiction. The world building in it is amazing 'but' I can't imagine it being everyone's cup of tea... very far from it in fact. But it was mine... I liked how crazy it was, I liked the back-story of the Leviathans - I'm sure there's a lot more to come on that - I liked Din and how dogged he was, not so keen on Ana and her constant swearing (couldn't see the point of it) but I can tolerate that if the story is strong enough and for me, it was. Book two is out next April and I'll be in the queue.

My second read of November was As a Thief in the Night by R. Austin Freeman, published in 1928, so rather different to the previous book!

The setting for this vintage murder mystery is suburban London. The Monkhouse household consists of Harold Monkhouse, elderly, not in the best of health, his younger wife, Barbara, Monkhouse's secretary, Anthony Wallingford, and Madelaine Norris, an orphaned relation, brought up as Monkhouse's daughter. The old man is often very ill in bed and this time is no different. No one realises he's at death's door, not even his doctor, but at death's door he is and he pops his clogs. It's initially thought his various illnesses have taken him but an autopsy proves otherwise: Monkhouse has been poisoned. Rupert Mayfield is a lawyer and very close friend of the family through Barbara. They practically grew up together and suffered the great loss of a girl that grew up with them, Stella. Thus, the two are very close. So, who killed Harold Monkhouse? Mayfield consults private detective, Dr. Thorndyke, but reluctantly. He hates the thought that one of the household he's so close to has killed a vulnerable old man, but has to do something as the police have drawn a blank. Neither of them realises how complicated this case is going to turn out to be. So, I enjoyed this but gave it just an average 3 stars on Goodreads. Why? Well, it's a bit waffley for my taste. Well written, like most authors from 1920s and 30s, R. Austin Freeman knew how to put pen to paper and write beautifully. But every last thing is gone into, scientifically... and some will like this aspect I'm sure... but for me it got bogged down in too much detail. That said, the case was intriguing, there was very good characterisation, I was very invested in each every one of them and, like Mayfield, didn't really want any of them to have committed the murder. London is very much a real character in the book, good atmosphere, lots of local knowledge, so I liked that aspect too. In all, a solid read, not a 'sing from the rooftops' kind of book, but I enjoyed it well enough.

So, while the snow is coming down outside (not kidding, it 'is') I'm reading this from John Connolly, my favourite author.

 

The Woman in the Woods, like all Connolly's Charlie Parker books, is creepy and thought provoking and no author makes me shudder like him. I'm five or six books behind in this series so my plan for next year is to have a catch-up as one of my personal challenges. This won't exactly be a hardship. 

I hope you're all keeping well and warm and finding some good seasonal books to read as winter closes in.


14 comments:

Kay said...

Cath, nice to read a post from you (not that I've been posting for a bit - ha!). My aim is to have an update in the new few days - I keep saying that ! Anyway, the first book you mentioned does sound indeed a bit odd. Not sure it would be my thing, but you described it well. Snow - good thing? Not so much in our area as we get it only rarely and therefore no one knows how to deal with it or ice (especially ice). We're gearing up for Thanksgiving next week and will be hosting family. I'm coming to the end of my re-read and catch-up of J.D. Robb's Eve and Roarke series. Only two more after I finish the one I'm reading now. I've enjoyed this series re-read, but now I have to decide what comes next. Take care and enjoy the 'white stuff'! :-)

Margot Kinberg said...

You've had some very different reads this month, Cath! The Tainted Cup does sound interesting, and I'm not usually one to reach first for a fantasy/spec fic book. But I can see how that one drew you in. And you're right; not much could be more different than the Freeman. Thanks for the reminder of Connolly, too; I should read more of him.

Lark said...

Crime and fantasy together is an odd mix. I'm not sure I'd end up liking it, but maybe. The Connolly is the one I really want to read. Though I'm a little behind in his Charlie Parker series. He's an author I want to try and get caught up on next year. :D

TracyK said...

The Tainted Cup definitely sounds like a book I want to try. And the characters sound more like Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin to me too. The US cover is different; I am not sure which one I like better.

I found a quote from a review at Booklist that agrees with you: “Inspired by Nero Wolfe with a bit of Hannibal Lecter added to his prime investigator.” Booklist is a publication of the American Library Association.

I hope you are enjoying the snow, if it is still coming down.

Kathy's Corner said...

Hi Cath,
I must give the John Connolly series a try. Normally I like to start with book one in a series but maybe for Connolly I will pick a book in the series where the plot interests me. That would be a problem with Louise Penny where you should read the series in order but maybe it's not necessary with Connolly.

Hope you are enjoying the snow. This is such a great time for reading books!

Cath said...

Kay: Nice to hear from you too. I look forward to your update when you get to it. I know how these things go, I don't post nearly as much as I used to.

I would say the UK deals with snow about the same as your area. We don't get a lot either and when we do, it causes absolute chaos. Ours is all gone now and we have Storm Bert to replace it. Happy Days. I hope your hosting of the Thanksgiving dinner goes well. I'm sure you're very experienced and it will be beautiful.

Wow, that's some achievement to reread over 50 of the Roarke series. I am absolutely in awe. I've only read one but lots of people love them I know.

Cath said...

Margot: The Tainted Cup was interesting and really different and certainly not for everyone. To be honest, I don't think I know anyone I could recommend it to. LOL! John Connolly's a class act as a writer, but again, very weird. But I find his Charlie Parker books compulsive reading and he has a 'lot' of fans.

Cath said...

Lark: Hmmm. I'm not sure about The Tainted Cup for you. On balance, I would probably say yes because we have very similar taste in books. I've made a definite plan to catch up on Charlie Parker next year. I have 5 left and already have the next two on my Kindle waiting. :-)

Cath said...

Tracy: The Tainted Cup is well worth a try. It's incredibly imaginative and 'different'. I'm so pleased you found someone at Booklist who agree with me on the Nero Wolfe comparison. I can't say I noticed a Hannibal Lector connection though...

The snow disappeared over-night as Storm Bert moved in, so we're now milder but very wet and windy. Like a true Brit, I do love 'weather'.

Cath said...

Kathy: If I'm honest, I think it's best to start the Charlie Parker series at the beginning as there's a huge amount of character development and discoveries to be made about the nature of Parker and what he is. It's fascinating.

The snow and cold lasted two days and now we have Storm Bert. Nothing like the UK for a variation in weather! LOL

Yvonne @ Fiction Books Reviews said...

You won't be surprised if I tell you that I shall be giving 'The Tainted Cup' a very wide berth - not my kind of thing at all! O course, I am pleased that you enjoyed it :)

I am adding the vintage Freeman book to my list however, as I quite like 'waffly' reads, especially if they also invoke a good sense of time and place.

I haven't read a JC book for a few years now, although even I was a little surprised that I hadn't added any to my Goodreads 'read' page, or FF. I would really like to dip into the catalogue again, as I feel certain that I must have read book #1, however, I hear what you say about there being a lot of character development during the course of the series, so this might have to be yet another good series I have dibbed out on!

What would be Brits do if we didn't have the weather to talk about? I don't know about it varying by the day, it has been changing by the hour recently, very unpredictable :)

Cath said...

Hi Yvonne! Nooo. LOL! I'm not going to fall off my chair with the shock of you saying The Tainted Cup is not for you. :-D

There really is an excellent sense of place in the Freeman book, very 1920s London. It was one of the things I liked most about it.

Yes, the Charlie Parker series is now 21 or 22 books long I think. I'm 5 books behind so can understand why you might want to dib out of this one if you've only read book 1. It's a very long committment to catch up from there. I'm going to use it as one of my personal challenges for 2025, mainly because I like the books so much that won't be a difficult challenge for me to fulfil.

LOL... I know re us Brits and the weather. But honestly? it's so crazy at the moment it's no wonder we talk about it. What with 2 days of snow and the Storm Bert. It's quite nice that we're having some respite for a day or two. Sunny and cold suits me fine.

CLM said...

I need to try John Connolly! I think I bought one once and got derailed. Maybe an audio book is the answer.

Cath said...

Constance:| His books are very creepy and even disturbing at times so you need to be in the right frame of mind!