I didn’t intend for a month to go by between posts but the World’s Worst Cold had different ideas. By the time I recovered from The Cold (mostly – I’m still the proud owner of an annoying cough), I was well behind on Christmas preparations.
So now the gifts have been opened, the friends have visited, the rum cake has been scarfed, and it is time to get back to books. The worst thing about being sick was how difficult it was to read more than a few pages at a time. It was much easier to prop the iPad next to me and mindlessly watch Netflix while drifting in and out of sleep. Luckily I had two fantastic books on hand for when I was reading.
So if you received a gift card to your local bookseller and you don’t know what to get, I happily recommend the following two books. (If you didn’t receive a gift card, or you ran out first thing on the 26th and spent it, get thee to a Library!)
Splinter the Silence by Val McDermid
Atlantic Monthly Press
published December 1, 2015
If you are a lover of moody mysteries with despicable and depraved villains, and complicated heroes then you must already know the work of master crime writer Val McDermid. “Splinter the Silence” is the 9th outing for DCI (retired in this book) Carol Jordan and criminal psychologist/profiler Tony Hill. Jordan’s team is disbanded and scattered. She is hiding away in the country, nursing wounds through application of copious amounts of alcohol. She suffers a humiliating fall from grace and Hill arrives to help her climb back whether she wants the help or not.
A chance to return to policing comes when she is approached to head a multi-county major crimes unit with members hand-picked by her. A good part of the book focuses on efforts to reassemble her previous team and reestablishing the grievances of old rivals and foes in the Bradford Police. But this wouldn’t be a Jordan/Hill book without a serial killer and Hill is quietly making connections from a spate of suicides – women who were recently targeted by internet trolls.
There is much focus on personal lives and personal demons in “Splinter the Silence,” with the hunt for the killer taking a smaller role but that does not detract from what is a very good entry to this series, that seems to be setting characters up for a next phase. The chase is still a thrill, the Jordan/Hill dynamic is as compelling as ever, and some intriguing threads left dangling should leave fans eager for the next installment. Readers new to the series should be able to jump in and enjoy without confusion – but why not treat yourself and start at the beginning? Pick up “The Mermaids Singing” and see where it all began.
The Verdict by Nick Stone
Pegasus
published December 7, 2015
I have been recommending “The Verdict” to everyone lately. This London-based legal thriller kept me turning pages well past my bedtime. When I first saw the page count (512) I hesitated but the story pulled me along so well I didn’t once want to skip through sections just to get ahead.
Terry Flynt is a man who spent a good part of his young adulthood getting in his own way and squandering opportunity. He is paying the price now by working to maintain hard-won sobriety and struggling to support a family as a lowly legal clerk in a prestigious law firm. He is older than the typical entry-level clerk and that marks him for bullying in the competitive atmosphere – bullying that ramps up when he gets a plum trial assignment because he happened to be the one who answered the phone. If he does well, it could lead to promotion and a company scholarship to finish his law degree.
The brass ring recedes when he discovers he must help defend wealthy, successful Vernon James, a man Flynt loathes. James and Flynt were childhood friends – inseparable, until James betrayed Flynt. Now James stands accused of the murder of a woman in his hotel suite and Flynt will need to reopen some old wounds along the way to finding out what happened that night.
This plot is full of satisfying twists and surprise revelations with a good mix of mystery and action. Just when I thought I knew the inevitable outcome, the outcome became much less inevitable. Characters are for the most part well-developed, especially Flynt. This made a lot of 2015 “Best of” lists, and for good reason. Highly recommended.
Happy Reading!
Advance galleys of these books were kindly provided by the publishers with no expectations other than an honest opinion.
