Dark Fire (C J Sansom)

Book Synopsis
The second book in the Shardlake series.

It is 1540 and the hottest summer of the sixteenth century. Matthew Shardlake, believing himself out of favour with Thomas Cromwell, is busy trying to maintain his legal practice and keep a low profile. But his involvement with a murder case, defending a girl accused of brutally murdering her young cousin, brings him once again into contact with the king’s chief minister – and a new assignment . . . The secret of Greek Fire, the legendary substance with which the Byzantines destroyed the Arab navies, has been lost for centuries. Now an official of the Court of Augmentations has discovered the formula in the library of a dissolved London monastery. When Shardlake is sent to recover it, he finds the official and his alchemist brother brutally murdered – the formula has disappeared. Now Shardlake must follow the trail of Greek Fire across Tudor London, while trying at the same time to prove his young client’s innocence. But very soon he discovers nothing is as it seems . . .

Ups
As engaging and compelling as the first book in the series. The period detail is superb - London in the 16th century really comes to life. Although the author has clearly done a lot of research on historical facts of the time, he has cleverly woven these into the story, so the book does not read like a dissertation on layout of and life in 16th century London. Highly readable, and I will definitely been reading the next one in the series.

Downs
The whodunit element of this book was somewhat disappointing, as it was quite easy to guess who was behind the disappearance of Greek Fire. Perhaps my expectations were too high, given the standard Sansom set in the first Shardlake mystery.

Rating

Language & Style - 9 / 10
Memorability - 4 / 10
Re-readability - 3 / 10
Pageturner factor - 8 / 10
Overall - 7 / 10

Peril At End House (Agatha Christie)

Book synopsis
Nick Buckley was an unusual name for a pretty young woman. But then she had led an unusual life. First, on a treacherous Cornish hillside, the brakes on her car failed. Then, on a coastal path, a falling boulder missed her by inches. Later, an oil painting fell and almost crushed her in bed. Upon discovering a bullet-hole in Nick's sun hat, Hercule Poirot decides the girl needs his protection. At the same time, he begins to unravel the mystery of a murder that hasn't been committed. Yet.

Ups
Quite a typical Agatha Christie, with lots of twists and turns and red herrings at every corner. Narrated by Captain Hastings, Poirot's faithful old sidekick. If you want a classical Agatha Christie, this won't disappoint.

Downs
Christie made this one a little too obvious for me. I had my suspicions on who the murderer was from the start, and watched out for clues to confirm my theory throughout the rest of the book. I was still hoping that I had latched on to the obvious red-herring-murderer that Christie sometimes artfully (and not too obviously) plants in her books. Alas that was not meant to be. Very enjoyable read, but definitely not up there with her best like the Ten Little Niggers, Crooked House, or the Murder on the Orient Express.

Rating

Language & Style - 9 / 10
Memorability - 4 / 10
Re-readability - 3 / 10
Pageturner factor - 8 / 10

Overall - 7 / 10

Towards Zero (Agatha Christie)

Book Synopsis
Before a murder is committed, events collude and juxtapose in such a fashion as to set up the scene of the crime; indeed, it is only a matter of time until the clock points towards zero and violent death occurs...

The story begins as Lady Tressilian, an old and rich woman confined to her bed, invites several guests into her seaside home of Gull's Point for two weeks at the end of the summer. However, handsome tennis star Nevile Strange, former ward of Lady Tressilian's deceased husband, incurs her displeasure by bringing his new wife, Kay, and his ex wife, Audrey, under her roof together, thus causing no end of romantic misunderstandings. But events soon take on a much less whimsical turn when someone is killed and Superintendent Battle, who is vacationing nearby in the home of his nephew, Inspector James Leach, finds himself pawing his way along a labyrinthine maze of clues and deception...

Ups
An unusual Agatha Christie, with several seemingly irrelevant stories NOT involving the central characters, yet are woven together until the whole puzzle comes together at the end. What is the connection between the seemingly innocent death of an old solicitor from a heart attack, a failed suicide attempt, a wrongful accusation of theft against a schoolgirl, and a child who commits a calculated murder? None of it makes sense until the final chapters of the book. Also I enjoyed the atmosphere in this book and the tension in the household between the new wife and the ghost like presence of the ex wife both of which reminded me strongly of Daphne DuMaurier's Rebecca (one of my all time favourite books).

Downs
In my view Agatha Christie cheats in this book, as two key pieces of evidence only come to light in the final chapter, and they hold the key to the book's solution. Without these it is impossible for the reader to confidently surmise the murderer and motive. I much prefer Christie books where all the clues are presented to the reader interspersed throughout the book, so the solution is there in front of you and yet elusive at the same time. Also not sure why this is not a Hercule Poirot book - Superintendent Battle is very much inferior in his detection methods to the brilliant Belgian. Finally the intricacies of the whole plot take a long time to build - the first murder is not committed until well into the second half of the book.

Rating
Language & Style - 9 / 10
Memorability - 4 / 10
Re-readability - 3 / 10
Pageturner factor - 8 / 10

Overall - 7 / 10

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Stieg Larsson)

Book Synopsis
Financial journalist Mikael Blomkvist has made his living uncovering the corrupt and crooked practices of Stockholm's leading financiers in his magazine, Millennium. But one expose unexpectedly backfires, and Blomkvist's reputation is in tatters. When he is offered an investigative job by powerful industrialist Henrik Vanger, he is in no position to refuse. But he is surprised to find it has nothing to do with high finance - this time, it is a case of murder.

Many years ago, Henrik's niece, Harriet, disappeared during a family gathering on the island owned and inhabited by the Vangers. No-one saw her leave the island, and no body was ever found. Even so, Henrik is convinced that she was murdered by a member of his own family - the tightly knit but dysfunctional Vanger clan. Mikael Blomkvist and the tattooed, truculent computer hacker Lisbeth Salander set out to investigate. When the pair link Harriet's disappearance to a number of grotesque murders from forty years ago, they begin to unravel a dark and appalling family history. But the Vangers are a secretive clan, and Blomkvist and Salander are about to find out just how far they are prepared to go to protect themselves.

The first book in the Millenium Trilogy, this book and the two that followed were published soon after Stieg Larsson's death in 2004.

Ups
Set in a remote town in the north of Sweden, the setting is unconventional and reeks of a locked room murder mystery, with the members of the family who were present on the day Harriet Vanger disappeared. The two lead characters Blomkvist and Salander are beautifully depicted, with all their strong attributes as well as their flaws, and were very believable. The story flows and unfolds well, and although the murder mystery is the key theme, it is also cleverly intervowen with Blomkvist's personal vendetta with the businessman who put his journalistic reputation into tatters.

Downs
Perhaps my expectations were too high, but I did not think this book merited the attention and hype it generated and the number of copies it sold worldwide. Sure, it was a pleasurable read, though it could have done with more rigorous editing, as it was at times too long winded and destroyed the page-turner effect the author was clearly trying to accomplish. The translation into English was generally competent, though there were a couple of instances where the point being made seemed to be lost in translation. I also felt the ending was clumsy, the murder mystery was solved, and yet there were still over a 100 pages to go which made it a bit of an anticlimax. The last chapters of the book concluded the story of Blomkvist's personal vendetta. I felt the book would have been more impactful if the two endings could have been achieved simultaneously.

Overall a good read, but I don't think I will be bothering with the other two in the series.

Rating
Language & Style - 7 / 10
Memorability - 6 / 10
Re-readability - 3 / 10
Pageturner factor - 6 / 10

Overall - 6 / 10

Sad Cypress (Agatha Christie)

Book Synopsis
Distant cousins Elinor Carlisle and Roddy Welman are happily engaged to be married when they receive an anonymous letter claiming that someone is "sucking up" to their wealthy aunt, Laura Welman, from whom Elinor and Roddy expect to inherit a sizeable fortune. Elinor immediately suspects Mary Gerrard, the lodgekeeper's daughter, to whom their aunt has taken a considerable liking. They go down to visit their aunt: partly to see her and partly to protect their interests.

In the night the rich aunt dies without having arranged a will. Elinor is the key suspect - only she had the motive, the opportunity and the means to administer the fatal poison that killed Laura Welman. Yet Hercule Poirot is not convinced that she is guilty, and he sets out to prove her innocence.

Ups
A classic Agatha Christie, the queen of the locked room murder mystery. Only a certain number of people were on the scene, and they are questioned one by one by Poirot in typical Christie format. Also as typical with other Agatha Christie murder mysteries, all is not as it seems at first, and as Poirot peels off the layers of hidden secrets in the suspects' lives the mystery begins to unfold. It is hard to comment more on the ups of the book without giving away a spoiler. The clues are masterfully hidden and spread throughout the book, so read it carefully!

Downs
I would not say it was the simplest of Agatha Christie mysteries, but I had guessed the murderer and the murder motive before Poirot announces it at the end of the book. So I did not get the spine tingling sensation that I normally get at the end of a really great Agatha Christie novel - when the murderer is announced and it seems so obvious that you wonder how you did not see it sooner. However this may have been because I had read the book many years back and I subconsciously recalled the ending....

Rating
Language & Style - 9 / 10
Memorability - 7 / 10
Re-readability - 5 / 10
Pageturner factor - 9 / 10

Overall - 8 / 10