A Question of Belief by Donna Leon

As I write this post,Donna Leon has published 33 books in her Commissario Guido Brunetti series. I've just finished reading #19 in the series - A Question of Belief. Leon published the first novel in the series, Death at La Fenice in 1992 at the age of 50. Leon will turn 82 in September (2024) and by publishing #33 - A Refiner's Fire earlier this year, Leon is maintaining a pace that many younger writers would envy.

Like many of her novels, A Question of Belief contains within it more than one story line. One of the two main stories in this book revolves around a charlatan who takes advantage of susceptible individuals with claims of knowledge of astrology, palm reading and other bits of occult "wisdom". The other story deals with the murder of a court clerk. Wikipedia describes the book this way:

Brunetti learns of a curious pattern at the courthouse: cases involving a certain judge and usher are repeatedly postponed in a way that benefits a certain lawyer. What's more, the usher is leasing an apartment from the lawyer at an extremely low rent — until he is murdered.

I'm not inclined to give spoilers; like in a good many of Leon's novels, this novel ends with us knowing the outcome, but that outcome isn't resolved in a matter normally found in traditional crime fiction. It leaves one with the feeling that justice isn't necessarily served well in the Italian legal system.

The Little Sparrow Murders by Seishi Yokomizo

 

Although Seishi Yokomizo had written more that 75 mystery novels and was famous in his native Japan for creating the fictional detective Kosuke Kindaichi, he is not as well known in the English speaking world. Only six of his mystery novels have been translated into English: The Honjin Murders,The Inugami Curse,The Village of Eight Graves, Death on Gokumon Island,The Devil's Flute Murders and the one I've just finished reading, The Little Sparrow Murders.

The mystery in The Little Sparrow Murders revolves around a Japanese folk tune - a children's tune - a Temari song - wherein the Little Sparrows are three young girls, murdered in line with the words of the song.

Like all the novels by Yokomizo, this one, written in 1957, is a top notch mystery. I was kept guessing until the very end.

Sadly, Seishi Yokomizo's novels aren't translated into English fast enough to suit me....a new one comes out about once a year. I haven't read when the next one is due to be released, but I suspect it will be in 2025.

The Cuckoo's Calling - Robert Galbraith (J.K.Rowling)

 

I was 45 years old in 1997 when J. K. Rowling first published her fantasy novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (published a year later as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in the U.S.). Being 45, it was not the sort of book I'd be reading. Now, 27 years later, I can say I've never read any books in the Harry Potter series. I've seen 5 or 10 minutes of one of the films - I can't recall which one - and can say I was justified in not reading any of those children's books. I am not the intended audience.

So, not being a J.K.Rowling fan, it's shouldn't be surprising that I've only recently learned of her series of crime fiction novels (written under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith) Cormoran Strike. Being a big fan of that genre, I downloaded the entire series and set the ebooks aside to be read at a later date.

I've become aware of the controversy surrounding Rowling and her support of women viz a viz the trans issue. After reading of her challenge to Scotland's new hate crime law , "Scottish lawmakers seem to have placed higher value on the feelings of men performing their idea of femaleness, however misogynistically or opportunistically, than on the rights and freedoms of actual women and girls", I decided to show my support for Rowling by reading book one in the Cormoran Strike series - The Cuckoo's Calling.

Naturally, I have to compare this series to a favorite of mine - Donna Leon's Commissario Guido Brunetti series. After reading this first novel, I have to say that I'm impressed. An excellent work; it stands up to Leon's crime novels. However, I do have one negative comment. I'm not a fan of crime detectives being given strange, unrealistic names. I don't care for the name, Cormoron Strike. Other writers of crime novels have been guilty of the same offense but those writers usually gave the detective either a common Christian name or a not quite so bizarre surname. I'll be reading more in the series and will do my best to overlook my dislike of the main character's name.

The Devils Flute Murders by Seishi Yokomizo

 

It was in December, 2022 that I first came upon the work of Japanese mystery writer, Seishi Yokomizo. Although the late Yokomizo (he died in 1981) had written more that 75 mystery novels and was famous in his native Japan, at the time I first learned of him only four of his novels had been translated into English.

After reading the first one - The Honjin Murders I set out to read everything of his that I could get my hands on.

Thankfully, a fifth book was translated and released in 2023 - The Devils Flute Murders. This one is my favorite, so far. Like Yokomizo's first novel, The Devils Flute Murders is a "locked room mystery", although it goes much further than that. Of course, I never give spoilers.

The only negative I can give is the difficulty I have keeping all the Japanese names straight - but that's me, not Yokomizo.

I've learned that a sixth mystery novel by Yokomizo (The Little Sparrow Murders) has been translated into English and will be available sometime this year. At the rate that his work is being translated, it's unlikely that I'll live long enough to read his 77 novels featuring Kosuke Kindaichi.

A Game for the Living by Patricia Highsmith

Continuing on in my exploration of the work of Patricia Highsmith, I've just finished her 1958 mystery, A Game For The Living. Although wikipedia describes the novel as a psychological mystery, the novel is very different from her work that I've read so far.

I'm sorry to say that this is my least favorite novel by Highsmith. I'm in good company, however. In her non fiction book, Plotting and Writing Suspense Fiction, she says that A Game For The Living is her least favorite as well.

I had tried to do something different from what I had been doing, but this caused me to leave out certain elements that are vital for me: surprise, speed of action, stretching the reader's credulity, and above all the intimacy with the murderer himself. I am not an inventor of puzzles, nor do I like secrets. The result, after rewriting the book four times in a gruelling year of work, was mediocrity. I always say to foreign publishers, and to publishers who contemplate a reprint, "This is my worst book, so please think twice before you buy it."

I was aware of her opinion of the novel before going in. I suppose it is the "mystery" aspect that she and I dislike about the novel. Like reading Dostoevsky, a Highsmith novel is best when she focuses on the psychology of the killer and less on the "who-done-it".

A Few Thoughts on the Writings of Dorothy L. Sayers

As I begin this post, I've almost finished reading the 11th and final novel in Dorothy L. Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey series of mystery novels, Busman's Honeymoon.

Although considerably fewer in number than the collection of Agatha Christie novels I read last year, it has taken me nearly the same amount of time to read these eleven.

As mystery novels, Sayers' work cannot compare with Christie's, - Sayers' books are simply not "page turners", although it seems to me that after the first few novels in the series, Sayers was attempting to write good novels - not good mystery novels, per se. I was particularly interested in the novels and writers mentioned in the Sayers' series. In several of the novels, Sayers mentions the name of Edgar Wallace. Wallace was unknown to me, but I've learned that he was a very popular writer of adventure novels and detective stories in his day. One of his best known works was his contribution to the creation of King Kong . Much of his work is in the public domain and I've downloaded quite a bit to be placed into the queue.

In Gaudy Night, the writer Sheridan Le Fanu is mentioned a few times. I've read two works by Le Fanu - Carmilla in 2015, and Uncle Silas in 2017. I've downloaded a few more of Le Fanu's work to be placed into the queue as well.

Also in Gaudy Night , Sayers mentions a book by C.P. Snow - The Search. I've managed to locate of number of Snow's work, although I couldn't locate a downloadable file for this particular novel.

In Busman's Honeymoon , Lord Wimsey's mother writes in her diary about her attempt to read a book entitled The Stars Look Down. :
"21 May.--Was reading The Stars Look Down (Mem. very depressing, and not what I expected from the title--think I must have had a Christmas carol in mind, but remember now it has something to do with the Holy Sepulchre--must ask Peter and make sure)".

According to wikipedia:
" The Stars Look Down is a 1935 novel by A. J. Cronin which chronicles various injustices in an English coal mining community. "

Fortunately, I was able to download The Stars Look Down and I've scheduled it to be my first read of December.

The Five Red Herrings

The Five Red Herrings is the sixth in the Lord Peter Wimsey series of mystery novels by Dorothy L. Sayers. The eleven novels in the series, as well as a number of short stories, are available for download (as e-books) at a Canadian website, fadedpage.com. I had downloaded the 11 e-books last year when I was on an Agatha Christie binge, but had neglected to read any until after coming upon  a review of her first novel by a Facebook friend.

After reading Whose Body? and clearing up a few books I had already put into the queue, I began reading the Lord Peter Wimsey series. I've read the first six, and for the most part, I've enjoyed what I've read. However, I'm afraid that I didn't care for The Five Red Herrings . I mentioned in an earlier blog post that I found Sayers' usage of a heavy Scottish accent in this particular book distracting. The story was far too complicated and difficult to follow, and the accents made it much worse. From wikipedia:

"The first edition was reviewed in The Spectator of 1931 by MI Cole who found the impregnable alibis of the rather indistinguishable artist suspects, and the elaborate examination of timetables, ticket punches and so on, to be really taxing to the intelligence. He noted that Lord Peter Wimsey and the author's usual pleasant fantasies have retired into the background leaving a 'pure-puzzle' book which is disappointing, dry, and dull. He acknowledged, however, that it has been appreciated immensely by puzzle fanatics who possess 'the type of mind that goes on solving crossword puzzles for ever and ever' ".

After reading The Five Red Herrings, I decided to put the last five books in the series on a temporary hold. I've gone off in a totally new direction with the book I'm currently reading - Good Karma : How to Create the Causes of Happiness by Thubten Chodron.

Unnatural Death - Dorothy L. Sayers

Unnatural Death is the third novel in Dorothy L.Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey series. How do we judge a mystery novel written 95 years ago? Fans of the genre, like myself are willing to overlook some things that haven't held up in these "modern" times.

I found the book entertaining, although I had a pretty good idea how the killer dunit very early on. The method used may have been unusual to the readers of 1927, but to today's audience, it seems fairly obvious.

Something else equally obvious to today's reader, which may have gone over the heads of some back in the day is the sexuality of certain female characters. I'm pretty sure the more astute readers understood that Miss Mary Whittaker and Miss Vera Findlater were lesbians. Of course, that word couldn't appear in a popular crime novel of the early 20th century, but Sayers certainly left enough clues for the would-be detectives reading this book.

I'm sure that many modern readers will frown on Sayers use of the "N-word" in the book, but as it turns out, the "person of colour" (as another character referred to the person in question) is one of the few characters that comes out on top in the end.

Readers who are fans of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction should enjoy this book, although I'm not sure it works for the general reader of today.

Cloud of Witness - Dorothy L. Sayers

In May of 2021, I began reading all the mystery novels of Agatha Christie (as well as several short story collections). This project was to keep me busy until October. At some point along the way, I learned of the mystery writer, Dorothy L. Sayers. Sayers was a contemporary of Christie, both writing during the Golden Age of Detective Fiction.

I learned that her novels were in the public domain in Canada and available for download at a Canadian website, fadedpage.com.

I proceeded to download all of Sayers' novels, although I knew I wouldn't be reading the ebooks right away.

I had recently been concentrating on "heavy" literature and toward the middle of July, I was looking for something "light" (yet enjoyable). As I mentioned  in an earlier post, I found what I was looking for, when a Facebook friend posted a review of Sayers' first book, Whose Body? . After reading Whose Body? , I knew I'd be reading more of Sayers' work. Not right away - I had already planned to read books on the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 

When I finished reading Hiroshima by John Hersey, Nagasaki: Life After Nuclear War by Susan Southard and a book on the Manhattan Project, I still had three books (not on atomic bombs) in the queue.

After reading the two by Toshikazu Kawaguchi , I thought the time had come to get back to Dorothy Sayers.

I've just finished reading her second in the Lord Peter Wimsey series, Clouds of Witness . With this second ebook, I believe I might come to enjoy Sayers as much, if not more than I do Agatha Christie. There are enough twists and turns for any fan of the genre. I will most definitely go onto more in this series.

Maigret and the Yellow Dog

I was not familiar with Belgian writer Georges Simenon or his fictional detective Jules Maigret until recently when a Facebook friend posted that he had just finished listening to an audio book of Simenon's Maigret and the Yellow Dog. Of course, I had to do a web search.

I learned that Simenon had published 75 mystery novels and 28 short stories featuring his police commissioner.

I found a copy of Maigret and the Yellow Dog as mobi, and put it to the queue of books to read this month.

Naturally, I couldn't help by mentally compare Maigret with Agatha Christie's Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot. It isn't, however, a fair comparison. I enjoyed the story....enough to download the entire 75 novel collection. Unfortunately, I'm unable to read these mystery novels in the original French, so I'm forced to read English translations. When reading Christie, I'm reading a master of the English language. Simenon's story is top notch, but being a translation, the words don't flow with the same smoothness as in Christie's novels. That's not a criticism of Simenon or his mystery novels......this is my weakness, not his. 

This particular novel is #6 in the Maigret canon. I'll eventually get around to reading #1, Pietr the Latvian but not this month. I've still books by other writers in the queue.