The Potter’s Field (2008/2011) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli This might be one of my favorite mysteries in this series. A dismembered body is found in clay fields, the face beaten so as to hinder identification. A beautiful woman comes to the station, to report that she believes her husband may be missing. Mimi […]
The Track of Sand (2007/2010) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli This is another story that is not a particular favorite. Montalbano and Livia are still fighting (of course), but the book opens with a really horrible scene, the discovery of a dead horse by Montalbano. A horse that has been beaten to death. This […]
August Heat (2006/2009) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli This is not my favorite Montalbano story. This is the book where the relationship between Montalbano and Livia starts to fall apart. (It continues to fall apart for the rest of the series so far.) We also see Montalbano behaving in ways he’d avoided in the […]
The Wings of the Sphinx (2006/2009) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli Somehow, I managed to read this book and the one that comes before it out of order. Which was unusually problematic because events in the previous book–events involving Montalbano and Livia–had a tremendous influence upon events in this book. I remembered what they […]
The Paper Moon (2005/2008) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli The story opens with a woman–concerned that she has not heard from her brother–coming to report him missing. It hasn’t been long enough to declare him officially missing, but she convinces Montalbano to come with her, to see what signs are at his apartment. “Aahh, […]
The Patience of the Spider (2004/2007) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli This book picks up right after the events of Rounding the Mark. Monalbano has been on leave, recovering from being shot in the shoulder. Livia has come down to stay with him during his recover, so they get to argue in person, instead […]
Rounding the Mark (2003/2006) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli It finally happened. The corruption of the Italian government and system has finally gotten to Montalbano, and he has decided he no longer wants to work in such a system. But his morning swim changes everything, when he (literally) runs into a corpse. The first […]
The Smell of the Night (2001/2005) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli Ah, Chief! Chief! This is the book where Catarella truly takes on the personality he has for the rest of the series. It always amuses me how so much of what he says ends up sounding like gibberish. And it’s all good and […]
Excursion to Tindari (2000/2005) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli All murder mysteries are, at their heart, depressing. They tell the tale of how someone decided that the life of another human was disposable, and then act to snuff out that life. But the heart of this story feels even more depressing, somehow. Despite the […]
Voice of the Violin (1997/2003) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli This story is a turning point for Catarella. “(I)n a few days, some absolutely up-to-date computer will be arriving… He wanted each of us to give him the name of an officer we thought had a special knack for computer science. Which I did.” […]
Evil Dark (2012) Justin Gustainis Stan Markowski is still on the supe squad in Scranton, still looking into crime committed by and/or against supernatural creatures, and this time a series of murders looks to be tied together, but the answer to cui bono is nowhere to be found. Like the first book, dark in the […]
Known Devil (2014) Justin Gustainis Stan Markowski is a Sergeant in the Occult Crimes Unit of the Scranton Police. His daughter and his partner are both vampires, but he doesn’t hold that against them. (He can’t, really, since it’s his fault they’re vampires.) It was believed that only goblins were affected by intoxicating substances (in […]
Hard Spell (2011) Justin Gustainis (Occult Crimes Unit Investigation) Stan Markowski is a detective in Scranton’s Supernatural Crimes Investigation Unit. He works the night shift and works the cases that deal with supernaturals. My name’s Markowski. I carry a badge. Also a crucifix, some wooden stakes, a big vial of holy water, and a […]
The Snack Thief (1996/2003) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli This is the third Inspector Montalbano book. In the same morning, there is a shooting death aboard a fishing boat and a man found dead in the elevator in his apartment. (This is Sicily, after all.) Catarella plays a larger part in this book, though […]
The Terra-Cotta Dog (1996/2002) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli I was out of sorts yesterday and didn’t know what I wanted to read. Since I recently read Montalbano’s First Case, I decided I wanted to read some Andrea Camilleri–despite the fact that the first book in the series was loaned out to someone and […]
Montalbano’s First Case (2004/2013) Andrea Camilleri translated by Gianluca Rizzo and Dominic Siracusa I love Andrea Camilleri’s Inspector Salvo Montalbano… well, let me clarify. I find him fascinating, but in person I think he could be unbearable if you irritated him. Which I most likely would. But I love reading about him. This is the […]
Black Arts (2014) Faith Hunter I really wish this book had come out over the holidays. Instead, it comes out at the start of the week, after school is back in session, so I have to wait until the weekend to read it, lest I lose sleep staying up all night to finish it. For […]
Taken (2012) Benedict Jacka After a terrible apprenticeship, Alex Verus hasn’t wanted much to do with other mages, and the Light Council in particular. But he’s starting to get a reputation, and it’s a reputation of someone whose enemies tend to end up missing or dead. None of this is really Alex’s fault, but it […]
The Grendel Affair (2013) Lisa Shearin I came across this on a book blog–although I have absolutely no idea which one it was. It was an early review (the book was published on the last day of the year), and it looked intriguing, so I put it onto my wish list. A month or so […]
Cursed (2012) Benedict Jacka This is the second Alex Verus novel, and finds Alex once again working with members of the council. The outer wall was topped with ragged coils of razor wire. The wire was rusted and full of holes that hadn’t been repaired in years, as if the owners had decided that they […]
The Fifth Woman (1996/2000) Henning Mankell translated by Steven T. Murray This is the first Kurt Wallander I’ve read, and I wonder how I’ve gone so long without reading him before. This is almost the definition of police procedural, and what we see is something that looks like what we’d actually see in a police […]
The Shadow Pavilion (2009) Liz Williams There are certain people who are not happy about the changes The Emperor of Heaven is making. But you’d think plotting assassination would be beyond Celestial Beings. You’d be wrong. The assassin is a strange creature; a centuries old child of a demon and a human who lives Between, […]
Precious Dragon (2007) Liz Williams The third Detective Inspector Chen book finds Chen back at work, and, after having stopped a rampaging goddess in the previous book, Chen and Zhu Irzh must now suffer the attentions of the public, and, more specifically, the accolades of part of the government of Singapore Three. This, of course, […]
When the Devil Holds the Candle (1998/2004) Karin Fossum translated by Felicity David I just did NOT like this book. I ended up skimming, to find out what happened so I could move it. The story jumps back and forth in time and from point-of-view, from the woman who is the killer to the victim, […]
The Demon and the City (2006) Liz Williams I really do love this series. Chen and Inari are on vacation, so Zhu Irzh is–in theory–handling the supernatural cases in Singapore Three. In reality, the captain is giving him very small-time crimes, fearing (perhaps justifiably) that Zhu Irzh could cause more problems than he solved. So […]
Voices (2003/2006) Arnaldur Indridason translated by Bernard Scudder There has been a murder in one of the fancy hotels. A particularly nasty murder, with a man in a Santa suit, in a compromising position, stabbed to death. Inspector Erlendur and the rest of the police have been called in, but nothing is at it seems, […]
Silence of the Grave (2002/2005) Arnaldur Indridason translated by Bernard Scudder This is the second book I’ve read by Arnaldur Indri?dason, and the second in his Inspector Erlendur series. This mystery is also quite different from other mysteries I typically read, but also quite good. There are two parts to the story–the tale set in […]
He Who Fears the Wolf (1997/2003) Karin Fossum translated by Felicity David This is the second Inspector Sejer mystery, and once again, the story involves characters on the fringe, who are damaged or not normal. Errki has decided to leave the asylum/institute where he has lived after being involuntarily committed as a danger to himself […]
Snake Agent (2005) Liz Williams The Detective Inspector Chen series popped up as an Amazon ebook deal of the day, and I love this series so much I snatched them up as ebooks. (In my defense, my copies are all trade paperbacks.) Detective Inspector Chen is in charge of crimes that stretch into Heaven and […]
Don’t Look Back (1996/2002) Karin Fossum translated by Felicity David I started this book, then put it down, and then picked it back up multiple times. The book opens with a young girl being picked up by a strange man driving a van, and the idea that this young girl might die was just more […]
Jar City (2000/2004) Arnaldur Indridason translated by Bernard Scudder Inspector Erlendur is a detective inspector with the Reykjavik CID. He’s a divorced loner with a terrible relationship with his two grown children, both of whom have issues with drugs. The body of an old man is discovered in his apartment. It looks like a crime […]
Bad Blood (2013) Dana Stabenow So, I was contentedly reading along, noting the parallels between part of this story and Romeo & Juliet, reading, reading, reading, and then I reach the last page. “What? What the hell?” (Looks for another chapter) “What the hell?” Is this the end of the series? I have no clue. […]
Those Who Fight Monsters: Tales of Occult Detectives (2011) edited by Justin Gustainis As the title says, this is a collection of supernatural mysteries. “Little Better than a Beast: A Marla Mason Story” by T. A. Pratt “Dusted: A Cosa Nostradamus Story” by Laura Anne Gilman “The Demon You Know… A Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom Story” […]
The Collected Short Stories (2013) Dana Stabenow I first came across Dana Stabenow as the editor of an anthology of fantastical mysteries. From there, I picked up her Kate Shugak mysteries, although I fully admit I have only read the books that come AFTER The Incident. I’ve actually read most of the Kate Shugak short […]
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (2009) Alan Bradley As usual, I didn’t re-read the blurb before diving in, so I had no idea what was was starting, besides a mystery. The title made me think of the South, and cotton plantations, and pecan pie. I was very very wrong in this. It […]
Chimes at Midnight (2013) Seanan McGuire I have mixed feelings about this book. I enjoyed it. And I tore through it pretty much in a single sitting. But it still felt off for some reason. First, the good things. I love Tybalt, and there was lots of Tybalt in this story, so that was great. […]
Treasure Hunt (2010/2013) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli Things are boring in Vigata for Inspector Montalbano and the police, until an elder brother and sister allow their religious mania to push them over the edge. But even that event doesn’t hold Montalbano’s interest for long, which is probably why he allows a “treasure hunt” […]
Through a Glass Darkly (2006) Donna Leon I actually started this weeks ago, put it back down, and then took a long time to get back to it. Commissario Brunetti is asked, as a favor, to go out with Vianello, to help bail out an environmental activist (and friend of Vianello) who was arrested during […]
Blood from a Stone (2005) Donna Leon A young man–a vu cumpra–is assassinated on the streets a few days before Christmas. As always, Patta is up to his neck in the politics. And as always, this conflicts with Brunetti’s search for the truth and justice. Weirdly, I’d remembered part of the mystery, which is inherently […]
Doctored Evidence (2004) Donna Leon An elderly woman is discovered brutally murdered in her apartment. Suspicion immediately falls upon her maid, who has disappeared, and a man-hunt ensues. The interesting thing about this story is the book pretty much opens with the shocking injustice, rather than ending with it, the way these books normally do. […]
A Sea of Troubles (2001) Donna Leon I have no idea how I read this story out of order. The first time, I read it later, because of the order at which Penguin published this series. This time, however, there was no reason, except that the books ended up out of order. And when I […]
Uniform Justice (2003) Donna Leon This is an exceptionally depressing story. It starts with a young man–a boy, really–found dead. Hanging in the restroom of a military academy. Yeah. Depressing. Suddenly he had a vision of what it must have been for the Moros to attempt to remove evidence of Ernesto’s presence from their homes, […]
Willful Behavior (2002) Donna Leon One of Paola’s students asks her if Brunetti can answer a legal question for her. Brunetti says he can’t give her a clear answer without knowing more about her question, and the answers she does give him only lead to more questions. It also sidles up to a subject about […]
Friends in High Places (2000) Donna Leon When Commissario Guido Brunetti is visited by a young bureaucrat investigating the lack of official approval for the building of his apartment years earlier, his first reaction, like any other Venetian, is to think of whom he knows who might bring pressure to bear on the relevant government […]
Fatal Remedies (1999) Donna Leon This is one of my least favorite Brunetti stories, for a very specific reason. The story opens with Paola breaking the window of a travel agency. She does it for noble reason–she wants to make people aware of how these businesses were promoting the sex trade to third world countries. […]
Club Monstrosity (2013) Jesse Petersen I really wanted to like this book. The idea of it is marvelous: the monsters of the past: Dracula, the swamp thing, Dr. Frankenstein’s monster–all these creatures exist, and they are in hiding and in group therapy of a sort, to get past their pasts. The main character is Natalie, […]
A Noble Radiance (1998) Donna Leon A body is discovered in mountains–a body that had been hastily buried in a shallow grave some time before. The only immediately identifying feature is a signet ring–the ring of a family whose son had been kidnapped and held for random two years before. This was an especially dark […]
Quietly in Their Sleep/Death of Faith (1997) Donna Leon This was published as Death of Faith in Great Britain. So if you come across that, it’s the same as Quietly in their Sleep. Brunetti is surprised by a young woman who comes into his office, asking him to look into the deaths of five of […]
Acqua Alta (1996) Donna Leon This story returns to Brett and Flavia, who we met in the first book, Death at La Fenice. Brett has returned from China, only it appears that someone is not happy for her to have returned. It is the time of acqua alta, or high water, in Venice. The sirens […]
Fade to Black (A Rojan Dizon Novel) (2013) Francis Knight This is a really dark and twisted book. I tore through it, but I think I shouldn’t read two of these in a row, because, well, the main character is a pain mage, which means he has to hurt himself to generate power for his […]