Adventures in the Mouse House

9. Death Comes to Pemberley by PD James

I love PD James.  She's one of my favourite detective story writers ever, managing to produce works that are both comforting and thought-provoking at the same time.

I really struggled with this one, though.  Which I will own as my failing, not hers.  The idea is that it's a sequel to Pride and Prejudice where somebody gets murdered.  Darcy and Elizabeth live in his big house and have some perfect children (who are neither seen nor heard) and live in perfect rich people domestic bliss. One of the reviews on the cover describes it as "pitch perfect".

It is.  Therein lies my problem.  I persisted through the scene-setting parts (which was, thankfully, shorter than in many of James's books, some of which don't get to the murder till 1/3 through) despite the characters' preoccupations with duty, money and social standing which give me the stabby rage.

It got better during the actual detecting bits, but they didn't last long and gave way to the tedium of the inquest and trial, which hinged more on reputation than evidence.

It's incredibly well done, but completely not for me.  I suspect this answers the question of whether I'd love or hate Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

53. The Skull Beneath the Skin by PD James

I've never read any of the Cordelia Grey mysteries before (I believe there are only two). It does stick to James's formula (the murder takes place on an island with only a handful of suspects who are all stuck there, the characters are all well-read people with little social contact outside work).

I really enjoyed this, quite possibly more than (at least some of) the Dalgleish mysteries.  I wonder why she hasn't written more Cordelia Grey books.

54. The Stolen Village: Baltimore and the Barbary Pirates by Des Ekin

Another one recommended by nwhyte .

The Baltimore in question is a small village in West Cork, Ireland.  Who knew? 

In 1631 almost the whole village was kidnapped by pirates from Algiers and taken back there to be white slaves.  Although little is known about the fate of these people, there is enough documentary evidence from other Europeans enslaved by Barbary pirates (who were often Europeans converted to Islam) at the time that Ekin is able to write a convincing account of slave life in the Barbary states.

Additionally, this is a story where everything is more complicated than it first sounds (it's about Ireland in the 17th century, so that's not surprising) and Ekin makes a convincing case that the villagers were sold out by a corrupt landowner who wanted their land. 

He also makes claims that the captivity of so may Europeans in the North African states which had more social mobility than Europe had an important impact on the history of western civilization, which though I'm not entirely sure I buy, are something really interesting to think about.

This book is not that long (it's thick, but has the largest font I've seen in a book in a long time) and is an easy, quick read.  It's only when I've come to the end that I've realized just how much is packed into it.

If you read anything set in the 16th-18th centuries there's a lot of underlying fear of being taken slave by Barbary pirates; this is the first factual account of it I've read and the scale of piracy in the Mediterranean and off the Atlantic coast was tremendous.

Recommended.


I might slow down on the books front for the next few weeks; I've got my usual other books on the go too, but I finally started Neal Stephenson's Anathem this week so, as they say, I may be some time.

39.The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy
I finished this just before we went away. Many thanks to badnewswade for the recommendation. I had a blast with this.

For those that don't know, this is LA Noir set in the 40s and 50s but written in the late 80s. For the most part it brings 40s LA alive in the same way as Chandler does, though once you know, there's some things that stick out. For example, Ellroy uses "fuck" a lot more often than Chandler, and the sex is more explicit. Or so it seemed to me. There's also a lot about how quickly LA was changing in the post-war years (a key plot twist involves the removing of the "LAND" from the end of the "HOLLYWOOD" sign), which I don't know if anyone was picking up on at the time.

I think I need to go watch the film again. And get hold of the rest of the LA Quartet, and then watch the film of LA Confidential again.

40. The Murder Room by PD James
Another long flight, another PD James mystery. See my review of The Lighthouse. I think everything I said there applies.

Which isn't to say I don't love this stuff.

41. The Plot Against America by Philip Roth
Interesting counter-factual in which Roosevelt is defeated by Charles Lindbergh (the aviation hero and Nazi sympathiser) in the 1940 election, from the point of view of a small Jewish boy living in New Jersey.

Never having read any Roth before, I wasn't sure what to expect. Mostly I just found it an interesting and reasonably well-written counter-factual history exercise, but there was a part at the end that made me cry. Books don't make me cry. Ever.

While I did enjoy this, I'm not in any great hurry to read the rest of his stuff, which doesn't really appeal.

42. Predator's Gold by Philip Reeve
Sequel to Mortal Engines, a recent Bibliogoths selection which was universally loved. Most excellent airplane reading, because it's easy but exceptionally good. The action never stops. Once again, really high body count for a Young People's book, yet still not as dark as Philip Pullman.