#whodoneit

It's crime and mystery month.
With fiction sub-geners like detective, legal, historical, psychological, forensic, cosy corner, comic capers, spy and suspense, there is a never-ending supply of reading material and far too many authors to list. However, here's a few of my favourites at this moment...Louise Penny, Fred Vargas, Adrian Magson, Gerard O'Donovan, Martin Walker and David Hewson. I'm always looking for more authors, let me know your favourites.
Who really "done it"? Does the ultimate punishment fit the crime? Are the perpetrators even caught?
Non-fiction more your style? There's no shortage of material to read here either. seedy, cruel, heartbreaking, lawbreaking, fascinating, and often all at once.
Now if you aren't usually a fan of crime, you may be surprised to find crime and mystery in the likes of The name of the rose by Umberto Eco; The daughter of time by Josephine Tey; Do no harm by Carol Topolski. Let's not forget Louise Fitzhugh's Harriet the spy series or Enid Blyton's characters. Crime and mystery are everywhere. Even the picture books are into it...what did happen to Harry's sweater in No roses for Harry?
So join us this month in our suspenseful reading, send me a post to put on the blog, add tags to Trove, Library Thing, and tweet using the #whodoneit hashtag. Let others know what you are reading.
Helen

The holy thief by William Ryan

This books begins with a fairly gruesome killing, but the storyline follows in a pacey style which is very readable. Set in Moscow in 1937, Stalin is in power and all is not so good in the state of Soviet Russia, corruption and social inequality are prevalent in the egalitarian society. Our polite detective seems to have an impossible crime to solve, as well as risking his own life in the investigation. William Ryan weaves the threads of his own story very skillfully, he portrays the bleak atmosphere of 1930s Moscow and the depressing deprivations that the populace endure, as well as creating sympathetic adn very human characters.
Stephanie