Fiction

I just finished listening to the audiobook of 1222 by Norwegian Anne Holt. I haven't read the earlier books in this series about Detective Hanna Wilhelmson, so I can't comment on the evolution of the character, as I could, for example, with Harry Hole or Kurt Wallendar. Wilhelmson is retired from the Oslo police after having her spine severed in a shooting incident about 4 years earlier. She's come to grips, in her own way, with her situation, but in general her guiding philosophy is LMTFA (leave me the fuck alone). She's in a long-term relationship with a lesbian Muslim woman, and the pair have a 3-year old daughter. This story revolves around murders that take place in a remote, snowed-in hotel after a train crash during the worst blizzard in Norwegian history. At times the story seems a bit claustrophobic, as we are pretty much restricted by the narrator's limited movement around the lobby of the hotel over the course of 3 days. Character development is critical, and Holt does a good job. The secondary story line revolves around a possible terrorist being transported by the police and also, obviously, affected by the storm. No spoilers here, but overall it seemed unnecessary. Worth the time.

Just about finished with Peter Robinson's standalone novel, Before the Poison. In this one a British composer of film scores returns home to the UK after his wife's death and some 30 years in the US. He's wealthy, has an Oscar, and doesn't have much to do, so he begins to explore the execution of a former occupant of the home he has just purchased. She was executed in 1953 for the murder of her husband. At this point in the novel, he's convinced she's innocent, but really has nothing to substantiate his belief, other than that all information about her does not suggest she is a killer. I'm not sure where it will end up, but it's a bit of a page turner. It's funny. In his Alan Banks novels, one of the things I've always found irritating is his references to specific CDs and the musical interests of his protagonist. This novel takes that to extremes, as the protagonist is a composer. So there are endless references to music. I suppose it does lend some depth to the character development, but I've always found it annoying.

I'm not sure if I mentioned this series previously, but over the last month I've listened to the audiobooks of three novels by Ben Aaronovitch, featuring the exploits of London constable and apprentice wizard, Peter Grant. The books are incredible. Aaronovitch is a super writer, the stories are a riot, and the narration by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith (I think I remembered the name right) is nothing short of brilliant. The books: Midnight Riot (Rivers of London in the UK), Moon Over Soho, and Whispers Under Ground.