[books 2011] John Connolly

78. The Burning Soul by John Connolly

The latest instalment in the Charlie Parker series.

A young girl goes missing in northern Maine, and it turns out that one of the residents of the town murdered a 14 year old girl when he was 14 and was given a new identity when he was released from prison.  Someone has found out and is blackmailing him.  Are the two related?  Charlie is hired to find out who is blackmailing the man.

It's a pretty good mystery, and I read the last 150 pages in one sitting, but I didn't rate it as a Charlie Parker book.  There's practically no supernatural element at all and nothing otherworldly and evil hunting Charlie down, which really makes it just another detective book.

[books 2011] Affair of the Poisons

79. The Affair of the Poisons: Murder, Infanticide and Satanism at the Court of Louis XIV by Anne Somerset

Wikipedia explanation of the episode in question is here

I found that it was neither as good as the title suggests (I read enough history that I expected this to be the case) nor as bad as I was told it is.  A good quarter of it is taken up describing the court of Louis XIV, but as this isn't exactly my area of expertise, this was a Good Thing.

The book is a good, straightforward explanation of what happened, but was a little short on analysis for my taste.  The writing is neither dreadfully boring nor particularly exciting.

I've been saying I should read more about early modern Europe for a while, so now I have.  When it comes to early modern Europe, the continent divides politically, culturally and artistically into France and Everywhere Else.  I've recently been reading about other places during the period, and now I see that difference more clearly.