#17: The Princess of Burundi by Kjell Eriksson

A former low-level street tough gets tortured to death at Christmastime, setting the gloomy detectives of the Uppsala (Sweden) police force in motion to catch a killer. Meanwhile, the dead man's criminal brother starts a parallel investigation.

Kjell Eriksson's first novel translated into English is called an Ann Lindell mystery, though detective Lindell is on maternity leave during most of the action, leaving the police work to her partner Ola Haver. But Haver really isn't the main character either; with a big cast of interesting police officers the book feels most like a Swedish 87th Precinct (which Eriksson makes a nod to himself when somebody tells Haver that he is "no Carella," a reference to Ed McBain's lead detective).

I have been enjoying this boom in Scandinavian mysteries lately just for a change of pace; as opposed to hardboiled American mysteries, when a fellow policeman is abruptly killed, Haver cries and helps lead the squadroom in a discussion of changes in social and democratic trends in Sweden. Even the hardened beat cop is introspective in Uppsala. But I probably would be too, based on the casual discussions of thirty below weather and snow so deep it threatens to crack building roofs (actually a critical plot point).

Eriksson's mystery starts off a bit ruminative but soon snaps awake to a crackling conclusion. I ended up enjoying the read quite a bit and will be seeking out the next book in the series.

I checked this one out from the Morrison-Reeves Public Library in Richmond, Indiana, and stopped yesterday to put a hold on the next book by Eriksson.

#16: Flight by Sherman Alexie

A troubled foster kid, half in the white world and half in the world of the American Indian, stands on the brink of a violent act when he is suddenly whisked away on a vision quest spanning the long, troubled history of relations between the two peoples. The resulting journey, corrosively funny and painful, is at the core of Sherman Alexie's new novel.

Sherman Alexie's Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven is one of my favorite short story collections in recent memory, and Alexie has written a lot of powerful novel-length fiction as well (and according to my wife, who saw him speak at a conference, he is also a strong public speaker).

In Flight, Alexie has developed a well-realized protagonist and offered much food for thought. I think Flight would have been a very good young adult novel except for the steady profanity and very mature situations (including rape, child abuse, and murder) that would undoubtedly keep it out of the school library. But it is a good solid read and adds to Alexie's growing reputation. Recommended for those interested in the subject matter.

I grabbed Flight off the shelf at the Morrison-Reeves Public Library in Richmond, Indiana, and cooked right through it.

#15: Born Standing Up by Steve Martin

Steve Martin is an interersting figure; he came to prominence acting like a goofball as a standup comedian, then transitioned to warm fatherly roles in Hollywood movies, but has always displayed a dry, detached style in his writing (in The New Yorker and elsewhere).

A little of all of his personalities are on display in Born Standing Up, Martin's autobiography covering his peanut-butter days at Knott's Berry Farm working in a magic store to the very height of his popularity in the late 70s, just as he gets ready to step off the mountain and try movies.

It's an interesting read, as Martin has one foot in the "Old Hollywood" while tentatively feeling out the paradigm shifts of the late 60s and early 70s. Martin name-checks everyone from old vaudevillians to Janis Joplin to Johnny Carson to Richard Pryor with ease.

I enjoyed Born Standing Up, but would have liked more of it, both in detail and in page count. Perhaps a second autobiography, covering his Hollywood years, will be forthcoming.

I listened to the author read the audiobook (with some banjo picking included) and would recommend this version. I checked it out from the Morrison-Reeves Public Library in Richmond, Indiana.

#14: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling

Sprawling fantasy story, the fourth in the Harry Potter series (and showing more sophistication than its predecessors), centers around a European wizarding tournament between three magical schools, carried on while Harry's mortal enemy lurks behind the scenes.

I have enjoyed how Rowling's stories have grown in breadth and depth (along with, presumably, the young readers who grew up with them) and found this one the most engaging yet. Perhaps incidentally (to American readers, at least) I have also been interested in the glimpses of the casual cruelties and ramshackle trappings of British boarding school life (made more explicit in other British author's fiction, like Stephen Fry's The Liar).

I would say that Goblet of Fire is the first of the novels to really not be able to stand on its own, with a very open-ending conclusion; but tracking the growth of the characters has been surprisingly rewarding to me, the last person on Earth to read the Harry Potter series.

Interestingly, I happened to catch the movie version while snowbound in a hotel during the time I was listening to this. It was the first time I had revisited the movies since listening to the audio books, and until then didn't realize how much (including entire subplots and characters) were excised from the movie versions. Probably goes without saying, but surprising to see side-by-side for the first time.

I listened to the very good Jim Dale audiobook version, on loan from Morrison-Reeves Library, half of which I ingested in one long drive back and forth from Pennsylvania.

#13: Lucky at Cards by Lawrence Block

A card sharp gets into a friendly game between gigs, but soon sets his sights on the wife of one of the players; and when that happens in a Hard Case Crime novel, look out.

Lucky at Cards is an early hard-boiled novel from Lawrence Block, whose Matthew Scudder detective series I have followed for many years (with When the Sacred Ginmill Closes being one of my favorite mysteries of all time); but this is a reprint from Block's peanut-butter days, with one of those memorable Hard Case Crime covers. Hard Case Crime also reprinted Block's Grifter's Game, a decidedly downbeat slice of noir with similiar themes of luckless joes and man-hungry frails.

But Lucky at Cards is a bit more upbeat, and rockets along at an alarming clip as our tarnished hero first gets himself into a scheme to frame the husband and take his money, then finds himself in a frame that is pretty hard to get out of in return. Tension cranks up, and up, right to the end. This was definitely a pulp classic worth rediscovering, and welcome for fans of Lawrence Block.

I bought this one in a big lot of Hard Case crime books off of ebay, which I have been cooking through pretty steadily. I read this in about a day and a half over vacation.

#12: Kill Now, Pay Later by Robert Terrall

Brash, old-school private eye story, in the admirable Hard Case Crime series, has a smart-assed gumshoe trying to save his shredded reputation when a robbery/murder happens at a high-class wedding where he is supposed to be working security (though he saves time to chase a few dames, natch).

Definitely a product of its time, with lots of genial boozing, overheated secretaries, and a general disregard for gun control laws, with surprisingly frank elements (a stag party and a woman overcome by "reefer" playing important roles). Highly enjoyable, quick read, which I chewed through in a couple of days on vacation.

I bought this in a big lot of Hard Case Crime books from ebay. Now I am going to have to try to find more Robert Terrall, somewhere.

#11: The Blood Spilt by Asa Larsson

The second novel from Swedish crime writer Asa Larsson has lawyer Rebecka Martinsson still recovering from the events of Sun Storm when another religious figure in her hometown is slain, prompting local police to speculate whether a copycat killer is on the loose, and drawing Martinsson back to rural Kiruna.


The tension isn’t notched as high this time around, as we explore how this new murder impacts various lives and exposes long-held secrets. The Blood Spilt works better as a character study than a thriller, with a rather abrupt denouement tacked onto a generally ruminative narrative.


I have been enjoying this new spate of translations of popular Scandinavian mysteries for their different (although admittedly often gloomy) take on the genre and a chance to see other cultures; though Larsson’s latest isn’t the strongest place to start, though I am sure I will seek out the next in the series.

I checked this out from the Morrison-Reeves Public Library in Richmond, Indiana.

#10: Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany

Enjoyable sixties sci-fi romp from one of my favorite writers of the era, Samuel R. Delany.

Captain Wong is a poet and spacefarer brought in to solve the mystery of Babel-17, the secret language of an invading force in an interstellar war. Wong puts herself in the middle of the war while trying to crack the code, eventually teaming up with some space-pirates and having a number of wild adventures.

Delany's stories are always full of interesting ideas, with intricate world-building and challenging views. Babel-17 involves a lot of wordplay and shows Delany's interest in languages. It was recognized as a Nebula Award-winning sci-fi novel, another of Delany's works to receive the award. Another interesting aspect is that one of the characters in the story supposedly wrote Empire Star, which at one time Delany intended to be coupled with this novel in one of those now-legendary Ace Doubles.

A lot of readers compare Delany favorably to another of my favorites of the era, Philip K. Dick. Both are highly creative, though I think Dick is a more meat-and-potatoes writer and Delany a bit more philisophical. Both are great representatives of a spate of unique sci-fi of this time period.

I bought Babel-17 in a big lot of Delany paperbacks off of ebay, which I am slowly chewing through.