We are cursed to live in ‘interesting times’ but one comfort is that we enjoy a branch of literature which doesn’t just distract us from the worries of everyday life, but also has the power to examine and illuminate those aspects of society that might be concerning us. Here’s hoping that in the coming years, our travails inspire a wealth of brilliant fiction.
5 – Holy City by Henry Wise
Will Seems, still troubled a decade after his mother’s death, has returned to his home town in rural Virginia as a Sheriff’s Deputy. Zeke Hathom, father of a childhood friend, is arrested for the murder of a black man, Tom Janders, who once saved Will’s life. The clues seem to point towards Hathom’s innocence but the sheriff is strangely incurious and dismisses Will’s concerns. Tensions between the black community and white police department are ratcheted up by the arrival of a black private investigator who may have an agenda of her own. Wise’s prose has a lyrical quality and the rural atmosphere is effectively evoked. Where this novel really works though, is his mastery of the noir form. Secrets are revealed and the past never stays buried. Impossible choices have to be made and the consequences are profound and, perhaps, inevitable. Read the review.
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4 – The Devil Raises His Own by Scott Phillips
Set in Los Angeles in the period just prior to World War I, The Devil Raises His Own documents the rise of the pornographic movie industry alongside, but separate from, Hollywood. It features a cast of characters from the familiar (Bill Ogden from Phillips’ second novel, Cottonwood) to the bizarre including serial killers, child stars and porn actresses. I can imagine it might prove a frustrating read for those who prefer a more conventional narrative in which a crime is committed and then solved, but readers who are patient and prepared to put aside genre expectations will experience a bawdy, humorous delight unlike anything else published this year. Read the review.
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3 – Blessed Water by Margot Douaihy
The welcome return of Sister Holiday, who to my knowledge is the only tattooed, ex-punk, queer nun in crime fiction, currently. Scorched Grace, the first in the series, was my favourite novel of last year, and Blessed Water builds on that achievement. Holiday has joined forces with arson investigator Magnolia Riveaux to form a PI agency. Their first case should be straightforward, a simple case of adultery, but their client never shows up and instead they are confronted by the corpse of Father Reese, a priest in the Catholic school that Holiday teaches music in. Back at work, another priest is missing and the pair’s investigation is complicated by the arrival of Holiday’s brother and the suspicions of the New Orleans Police Department.
A lot is crammed in to a short novel but it never feels like this on reading. Themes of faith, trauma and fraternal love are explored with wisdom and grace, as well as an exploration of the Catholic Church’s legacy of abuse. My description might make it seem like a dark book, but as in Scorched Grace, reading it is ultimately a life-affirming experience. Read the review.
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2 – Rogue by Paul Finch
The return of fan favourite Mark ‘Heck’ Heckenburg proved a delightful early Christmas present. After a six-year hiatus, Finch must have been as desperate as his readers to get back to the action because Rogue sets off at a gallop and never slows down. Heck is on leave and officially a suspect in the murder of 36 police officers of the Serial Crimes Unit, the event which was the audacious cliff-hanger from Kiss Of Death. He’s not one to hang around waiting for internal affairs to solve the crime and begins his own investigation, which takes him from the crime-ridden estates of London up to an isolated Scottish castle. The pace, action and cinematic climax are everything we have come to expect from Finch, but what sets Heck apart from all the other hard men of crime fiction is the author’s deft hand in characterisation. What could have been an out of date stereotype in lesser hands is in fact a nuanced and subtle portrayal of trauma and vulnerability. This series really does have something for everyone. Read the review.
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1 – Don’t Let The Devil Ride by Ace Atkins
If this novel were a movie, then Pulp Fiction might be a reference point. It begins as a series of separate stories, seemingly unconnected, but which gradually converge towards the climax. The tone too brings to mind that movie; cool, sexy, funny, but with the knowledge that violence might break out at any time. Addison McKellar’s husband Dean is missing, and not for the first time. She suspects an affair but is forced to reject this mundane explanation when she discovers his construction company never existed in the first place. Meanwhile globe-trotting arms dealers are feuding and an ex-Hollywood minor star tries to make a living and keep her dignity on the nostalgia circuit. That Atkins can bring these strands together is a testament to his plotting skills; that he can do so at the same time as creating living breathing characters who surprise and delight is proof of a writer at the very top of his game. Read the review.
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I would also like to briefly recommend a few books that I enjoyed this year which, for whatever reason, I didn’t manage to review: Memorials by Richard Chizmar; Ghost Island by Max Seeck; and The Queen City Detective Agency by Snowden Wright.
