Reading round-up

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

I read the English translation of Seishi Yokomizo's The Little Sparrow Murders which was put out by Pushkin Press this year. I loved it. It is very typical of the earlier ones in the detective Kosuke Kindaichi series. Kindaichi ends up in the village which has a lot of secrets and those secrets bubble up in gruesome ways. Staged bodies. In this one, he is doing what Christie often did, and using a children's rhyme (in this case it's the folklore/tradition song little girls sing when they are bouncing a rubber ball) as the centerpiece of the mystery. It was a bit slow to get started (they always are. he always provides a map and a cast of characters and the latter is absolutely needed) but by the third chapter I was hooked. I am keeping it until March for 7 days, 7 covers.



I also finished Three Doors to Death by Rex Stout which is a collection of three Nero Wolfe detective stories. I like Nero Wolfe in small doses. Stout does occasionally do the noirish sarcasm very well, though, and here are two quotes I pulled out:

During meals Fritz always answers the door, on account of Wolfe's feeling that the main objection to atom bombs is that they may interrupt people eating.

She nodded, decided to wire it for sound, and said, "Yes, certainly."

I mainly got this one because of the last entry which includes a body found in a greenhouse, and it relates to orchids, the fumigation system in the greenhouse plays a role in the death (my sister is an orchid enthusiast). I used this one for this year's 7 days, 7 Covers.



At the moment, I am reading short stories by Stanley Ellin and A Question of Blood by Ian Rankin, which is #14 in the Inspector Rebus series. I've just started it, but given that past performance is the best indicator of future performance, I'm guessing Rebus will make some Very Questionable Life Choices--and solve the case!

Comments

[smallhobbit]

That's the thing about long running series, there are certain things which always happen.

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Yes, the book opens with Rebus in the hospital with his hands burned and a Bad Guy dead in a mysterious fire and him lying to his boss (who is also his former lover). He is a walking example of incompetency kink. He would've been fired a thousand times over (and put in prison) for half the things he does. But it's comforting in its own way.

[garonne]

Ooh, that cover is indeed very striking!

You remind me that I meant to read some more Kosuke Kindaichi (so far I only read The Case of the Honjin Murder, which I thought was excellent).

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

I have read them all (in English translation) and like them. They are gruesome (high body count) but enjoyable.