YA Lit Ramblings

Charles Maddox has traveled across Europe to the estate of the Baron Von Reisenberg, charged with the job of making judicious inquiries into the affairs of the Baron.  It seems that the Baron has offered to donate a rather large sum to the Bodelian Library in the University of Oxford for the upkeep of one of the library’s most famous possessions.  The library, of course, wishes to be assured of the Baron’s credentials and the Baron has offered to pay Charles’ expenses so that he might do just that.  As to be expected, Charles finds the Baron and his ancestral castle quite strange, with the local folk muttering and crossing themselves.  And Charles has nightmares and a tiny mark on his neck.  And Charles ends his stay in a lunatic asylum.

For this book Lynn Shepherd has chosen Bram Stoker’s Dracula for her inspiration.  Dark and eerie, it catches the mood.  We find Charles caught between superstition and science as he tries to make sense of gruesome murders in London.  I love the way the narrator in the book is sometimes standing just offstage, in the present.  It’s a ripping good tale, and I do recommend it.

eGalley review     Publication date 10.21.14

Little Marcus has been traumatized by witnessing the murder of his grandmother.  He feels secure only when he is with the dogs belonging to police dog handler, Krister Eriksson.  So Eriksson kindly humors Marcus by letting him be a wild dog, letting him sleep in the dog kennel.  Of course Eriksson tucks Marcus into the heavy sleeping bag and covers him with a blanket before climbing into his bag in the tent he has set up by the door to the kennel.  Marcus barks a woof in thanks.

The little village of Kiruna in far northern Sweden is shaken by the brutal murder of Sol-Britt.  Rebecka Martinsson, a public prosecutor, should be investigating the case, but she’s been pushed aside by a publicity hungry associate. Reacting angrily, she refuses another assignment and takes her owed holiday.  Now, with time on her hands, she begins to look into the murder on her own.  Odd coincidences appear.  It seems that Sol-Britt’s grandmother was also murdered, and her son and father met unexplained violent deaths.

The story shifts back and forth from the present to the past to tell the story of Sol-Britt’s grandmother, a school teacher in the early days of Kiruna.  It was a mining town in 1914.  The cold and mud, the hard life of the people enveloped me as I read. While the solving of the present day murder was the primary focus of the book, I was far more interested in the young teacher’s life. I enjoyed this book very much.  It was well written with interesting, believable characters. And northern Sweden is a setting I’d not encountered before.

eGalley review        Publication date 8.12.14

The annual tradition of collecting guga (gannet hatchlings) from the rocky isle of An Sgeir off the Isle of Lewis in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides dates to before the Middle Ages.  Today it is a rite of passage for young men of Ness.

A murder on Isle of Lewis has gruesome details similar to one that occurred in Edinburgh recently, so Fin Macleod has been sent to see if there is a connection.  He has been investigating the Edinburgh murder and, as it happens, he was born and raised on Lewis.  Fin had escaped to attend the university in Edinburgh years ago and except for a brief visit for a funeral had never come back.  As soon as he stepped off the plane, the memories hit him.  And they kept haunting him.

This is a beautifully crafted book, with chapters alternating from the present to the past.  The story told in the present is brisk and factual, a typical mystery style.  The chapters from the past are full of melancholy, of regret, of an aching that can’t quite be defined.  The focus soon changes from solving the mystery to uncovering Fin’s past, and the guga hunt seems to be the key.

I enjoyed being transported to the barren, windy, Scottish isle peopled with crusty, rugged individuals.  This is the first of a trilogy and I am eagerly looking forward to the next book.

eGalley review      Publication date 8.5.14