Don't forget we are also on twitter

Follow us for news from library staff.
http://www.twitter.com/wingecarribee

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Killer heat

Killer Heat is the tenth book in Linda Fairstein's series about New York Assistant District Attorney Alexandra Cooper.
Success can never be guaranteed in every case Alexandra Cooper prosecutes, but for once the odds are with her for putting away a serial rapist for a crime he committed over twenty years previously.Outside the courtroom, though, another predator is at large. His first victim was a call-girl, a cat-o-nine-tails discovered near her body, and it seems as though Detectives Mike Chapman and Mercer Wallace need to look amongst her clients for the killer, but the discovery of other corpses, the modus operandi remarkably similar to the first, turns the investigation into a hunt for a random and viciously sadistic murderer. A part of his signature is that in the humid heat of summer he leaves his victims' remains in some of the least populated parts of New York - a derelict office building, an abandoned fort on an island below Manhattan. Alex fears it may be another twenty years before they can identify this monster, each day bringing the dread of news of another killing, then she, Chapman and Mercer get lucky and are able to give a name to their target. But that's not the same as putting him safely behind bars: to do that they are going to have to get close to him, much too close for Alex's own safety ...
It seems the central characters , Alex Cooper, Mike Chapman and Mercer Wallace need little or no sleep as they search for this killer. However, the story is believable, enthralling and as usual includes a history lesson about New York.
Helen

The conjuror's bird

The back of this book says:
The Conjuror's bird is a dazzling debut novel, spanning three centuries of secrets and surprises.

It seems a long time ago that Fitz and Gabby were together, with his work on extinct species about to make him world-famous. Now, it's his career that is almost extinct. Suddenly, though, the beautiful Gabby reappears in his life. She wants his help in tracing the history of The Mysterious Bird of Ulieta, a creature once owned by the great 18th Century naturalist Joseph Banks. It soon becomes clear that Fitz is getting involved in something more complicated - and dangerous - than the search for a stuffed bird. To solve the puzzle, he must uncover the identity of the amazing woman Banks loved - a woman who has disappeared from history as effectively as the specimen he is hunting.

This is the intriguing debut fiction writing by Englishman Martin Davies. He details history without being boring and describes their environments beautifully. His characters are absolutely human, weak and strong.

If you liked Kate Grenville's The secret river, read this.
Helen










The draining lake

The book I’m reading now is a murder/thriller called “The Draining Lake” which is part 4 of a series of books by Arnaldur Indridason, which are all set in Iceland. The novels certainly don’t fit the norm of your average whodunit and to me, this is their great appeal.
“The Draining Lake” happens in Iceland just after an earthquake. One of the country’s main lakes has dramatically lowered and a skeleton is discovered, which had been weighed down by an old radio bearing Russian Script – herein lays the start of the investigation which goes back and forth between present day and Cold War East Germany.
The central character in all of Indridason’s novels is a police inspector called Erlendur Sveinsson, who is always addressed by his first name, because as I discovered, everyone in Iceland is addressed by their first name, which is one the many quirky things I learned as I read the books. I was also introduced to a culture which throws open a whole new view into how people live their daily lives in a climate and a world so different from my own.
The novels are not just about solving a murder, they are way more. They move from the present day to the past and back again many times and you learn what lead people to that fateful day of the crime - your past, is going to affect your present, especially when you least expect it. They also have a main character who is not a super cop detective who can solve everything, but a real person who brings his life to the job and the job to his life. If you like your novels with character and depth then Arnaldur Indridason is an experience not to be missed.

Chris