What Book to Read?

Looking for something to read over the holidays? Here’s some American crime writers you could consider.

Hell Gate (2010), by Linda Fairstein. Fairstein comes highly recommended. She is a former prosecutor and expert on crimes of violence against women; Kathy Reichs and Lee Child both endorse her on the back cover, and a discerning friend likes her. The book is one of a series featuring Assistant District Attorney Alex Cooper and it deals with human trafficking and murder in New York. It’s not court room drama – Cooper acts much like a police detective investigating these crimes. The NY District Attorney’s office, the NYPD and the FBI are all involved, and I found it a bit difficult remembering who was who. Perhaps there are better books in the series, because I didn’t find this one particularly compelling. There is too much padding, not enough narrative drive and a stock ending that is one of my least favourite plot structures. Read it, but only if you don’t have much else to choose from.  Probably five out of ten – remembering that I hardly ever give tens. You can find more about Linda Fairstein here.

Keeping the Dead (2009), by Tess Gerritsen. I picked this book up at random from the library shelf, and liked it better than the more highly recommended one above. It is one of a series featuring Boston homicide detective, Jane Rizzoli and Medical Examiner Maura Isles, though other characters also carry the story, meaning it is not strictly a police procedural. The details of the ‘how and where’ of the crimes are interesting and well imagined, and the plot has some quite satisfying twists and turns. I don’t find the ‘why’ quite as convincing, though the motive for the crimes is a fairly standard one in psychological crime thrillers, which I guess this aspires to be. I think you have to write really well to create the atmosphere of a good psychological thriller – think Barbara Vine – and Gerritsen, though perfectly adequate, doesn’t quite make it for me. So it’s a seven. You can find out more about Gerritsen here.

Then there is The Drop (2011), the most recent Harry Bosch story by that master of the police procedural, Michael Connelly. I’ve read and enjoyed most of the fourteen books in the Harry Bosch series, so I can easily relate to him and his life in the Los Angeles Police Department; it may be harder coming in cold. A few books ago, Harry resigned in frustration from the LAPD; now he is back in the Open-Unsolved Unit as part of the Deferred Retirement Option Plan which aims to keep experienced officers in the force. But this isn’t the only ‘drop’ in the book. Harry has two cases, one involving a drop from a building – did the victim jump or was he pushed? – the other involving the DNA from a drop of blood found at a murder scene. Both cases have interesting twists and turns, and there is an underlying theme about the nature of evil, all making for a satisfying story. But what stands out for me is the meticulous detection involved in both cases, which is surely at the heart of the police procedural. There’s always a bit of luck or coincidence, but Bosch uses the evidence in a very convincing way. Given that I’m making the judgement within the conventions of crime writing, I’d give it 9 out of ten. You can find more about Connelly here.

Holiday reading for me is almost by definition reading you don’t have to concentrate on. All of these fit that bill for a hot and lazy afternoon – and even if you are in the depths of winter there’s a place for reading crime fiction in front of a warm fire. My scoring system is totally personal; which of these writers you prefer is likely to be just a matter of taste.  Happy reading!