Revenge and Redemption

Black River | by Nilanjana S Roy (Context)

A poignant, gritty, and mostly pacy thriller of a father searching for his child’s killer. Eight-year-old Munia witnesses a murder and is killed on her father’s small plot in a village, a few hours from New Delhi. When her father discovers her body, he finds a Muslim carpenter—driven wit­less by his own tragedies—sobbing by her feet. But before the villagers can lynch the man, Sub- Inspector Ombir Singh shows up and promises justice within the week. Roy gives us a dark and sombre setting, a relatable and clear-eyed pro­tagonist, and an incisive commentary on present-day India’s social and political conflicts. Her easy style, lyrical prose, and layered narrative carry us through to a nail-biting and satisfying finish.

Exiles| by Jane Harper (Flatiron Books)

Exiles, the third in the series set in the Australian outback, brings federal agent Aaron Falk to a small town in Southern Australia’s wine country. Kim Gillespie went missing a year ago during a busy town festival, leaving her baby in a stroller in the parking lot. Kim’s former brother-in-law asks Aaron to help find the truth about her disappear­ance. Was she abducted or did she commit suicide or was she murdered? And is there a connection between a hit-and-run five years ago and Kim’s dis­appearance? As Falk asks questions of family and friends, he discovers things in their past that could drive someone to kill. Harper doesn’t shy away from exposing the domestic abuse, rape, addiction, and bullying that can go on close-knit communi­ties, and to which friends and family turn a blind eye. She does it with a light touch, the mystery always being front and centre of the tale.

Thirty Days of Darkness | by Jenny Lund Madsen (Orenda Books)

An acerbic, middle-aged, award-winning literary fiction writer accepts a challenge: to write a crime fiction novel in a month. Her long-suffering editor finds a place for her to stay in a remote Icelandic fishing village with a sixty-something landlady. When the landlady’s teenage nephew’s body is fished out from icy seawater, Hannah wonders if it is murder. Could she use it to write the murder mystery, she wonders. As she delves deeper, she realises that exposing the dark secrets of the com­munity may endanger her life. Hannah is a memo­rable character—an alcoholic, politically incorrect, and cranky. Her caustic wit propels the story with peppery bursts: “People who lecture others about things they have absolutely no knowledge of should die slow and painful deaths.” With much heart and humour, it charts Hannah’s journey from curmudgeonly-ness to friendship and love.

Mr Bowling Buys a Newspaper| by Donald Henderson (Collins Crime Club)

Set in London during the bombings and blackouts of World War II, it begins with Mr Bowling rush­ing out to buy a newspaper. He reads through each page, then reads it again to make sure, there is no report of a missing man. He has gotten away with murder. Not his first though—that was his wife, he tells us. A gentle and dry humour drives the story. There is none of today’s crime fiction psycho­path—remorseless and violent—about him. Mr Bowling’s sense of humour, rigorous self-anal­ysis and a solid moral compass won’t permit it. He even plays fair with the police: leaves clues, doesn’t plan his murders, acts on the spur of the moment and conducts his murders quickly and silently— suffocation being his preferred way. The mark of Henderson’s deft touch is the taste he leaves in the reader’s mind—a time well spent in examining the human spirit in its full glory that spans from abject despair to sublime love. No wonder it was Raymond Chandler’s favourite novel.

The Running Grave| by Robert Galbraith (Sphere)

Gumshoe detective Cormoran Strike and Robin Ellacott, his detective partner (but both want it to be more and haven’t told each other), are back. Hired by Sir Colin Edensor whose son, Will, has joined a cult, the agency’s job is to track down former members who could be persuaded to talk or even to testify about coer­cion and mind control by the cult principals. Robin goes in undercover while Strike tracks down former cult members including the cult-chief’s eldest daughter. Questions relating to free will, the power to choose, and how to stop obsessions thread through the book. Galbraith (the pseudonym of JK Rowling) is a masterful storyteller who takes us through a rich and emotionally luxuriant landscape where yet again, innocence fights evil.

The Year of the Locust| by Terry Hayes (Bantam Press)

A Denied Access Area spy for the CIA must find the plotter who is about to unleash a terrifying attack on the West. Thrilling chases, vivid descrip­tions, hypnotic story, and relatable characters make this the best thriller of 2023.

The Proof of the Pudding| by Rhys Bowen (Berkley)

In this instalment of Her Royal Spyness series, Lady Georgiana, a cousin to His Majesty Edward VIII, is expecting a baby. Even better, her new French chef is much-sought after by neighbours including Gothic horror novelist Sir Mortimer Mordred who borrows Chef Pierre for a gala charity dinner. With a poison garden within arm’s reach, and Agatha Christie as one of the dinner guests, can murder by poison be far behind? We are lured into a bygone world of manors, manners, and balls. Frothy fun and a pleasure to read.

All the Sinners Bleed| by SA Cosby (Flatiron Books)

Ex-FBI agent Titus Crown, born and raised in Charon County, Virginia, is elected its first Black sheriff. Summoned to the local school during a shooting, he discovers that his best friend’s teenage son has shot a beloved white teacher. Before the white deputies shoot him dead, the boy looks at Titus and says; “Check his phone”. Videos and photos show Steadman, the teenager, and a third masked man carry out horrific mutilations and killings of children of colour. Clues point to the killer’s connection with the local church. The visceral nature of the tensions—equality versus old ways of a racist domination, religious zealotry against homo­sexuality and the liberal agenda—are brilliantly captured in crackling prose and cutthroat pace. Another winner.

The Mistress of Bhatia House | by Sujata Massey (Penguin)

I discovered Massey first through her charming Rei Shimura series, and then read the Perveen Mistry series set in 1920s India. In this fourth one, Perveen Mistry, Bombay’s only female solicitor attends a lavish fund-raiser tea at Bhatia house for a women’s hospital. The young grand­son’s silk kurta catches fire, and a female servant (Sunanda) saves him, but suffers serious burns. Later, Sunanda is arrested for wilfully aborting her own baby. Perveen steps in and must take her home, where there are more joint-family compli­cations. When the Bhatia patriarch dies of food poisoning, and foul play is suspected, Sunanda’s presence in the Bhatia home makes her a murder suspect. Perveen realises that someone is trying to frame Sunanda. Perveen is an attractive character with whom we connect because she is still finding her feet and her space to grow into as a person, and not simply fit into the categories of a daughter, an abandoned wife, and a sister-in-law. This is a per­fect blend of historical accuracy, emotional drama, and a beautifully spun mystery.

The Deep | by Kyle Perry (Penguin)

Set in Shacktown, a township that runs on aba­lone fishing and drug smuggling controlled by the coldblooded matriarch, a female Godfather, The Deep is a psychological and atmospheric thriller-mystery that examines the inner rivalries and betrayals of the Dempsey family. Forrest Dempsey washes up ashore amidst the largest sea-cliffs in the Tasmanian coast. The 13-year-old is alive, after having been lost at sea seven years ago with his father and mother, and on his back is a badly etched tattoo, “I am Forest Dempsey”. But is he really Forrest? Or is he the pawn of a mysterious pirate-drug lord Blackbeard, who is rumoured to be moving in on Shacktown. Lyrical prose captures the taut emotional entanglements of the Dempseys, and the wild sea, the Black Wind, and a terrific underwater chase provide a fitting setting to a twisty tale of crime and redemption.

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