Review of "Splinter the Silence: A Tony Hill and Carol Jordan Mystery" by Val McDermid

In this ninth book in the 'Tony Hill and Carol Jordan' series, Carol tries to deal with her alcoholism and becomes head of the Major Investigation Team. The book can be read as a standalone.

*****

As the story opens Carol Jordan, having left her job as a Detective Chief Inspector with the Bradfield police, is renovating an English country barn to make a comfortable home for herself and her dog Flash. Carol is more or less estranged from her friend/former co-worker Tony Hill - a psychologist and forensic profiler.



After a local dinner party, Carol - who has an alcohol problem - is arrested for drink driving. With no other options Carol calls Tony for help, and the psychologist takes it upon himself to get Carol off the sauce - not an easy task. Carol is about to face charges in court when her old boss makes an offer she can't refuse. Carol's breathalyzer test will turn out to be 'faulty' if she agrees to return to the police force as the DCI in charge of a new roving Major Investigation Team (MIT). Carol gets to hand pick her team members and chooses Tony and a few good detectives she can trust.



Not everyone is happy about this. Several high-ranking police supervisors dislike Carol for making them look foolish (in previous books) and one former underling resents not being chosen for the new team.



So when the press learns about the 'faulty' breathalyzer test - and splashes it across the front page - Carol suspects a cop leaked the information. And she plans to find out who.



Meanwhile, several women in the area have taken their own lives. Each woman expressed feminist views, was severely bullied online, and was apparently driven to suicide. Tony's instincts tell him these deaths are suspicious and Carol's newly formed MIT looks into them as a sort of practice run. This is all to the good since (as the reader knows) a killer is on the loose.



Members of the MIT interview various people, including cops who originally investigated the suicides, friends and relatives of the dead women, and people who posted ugly/threatening comments online. The team also learn that a certain type of book was left at the site of each 'suicide.' Very suspicious indeed! 🤔



In the end, the MIT uncovers the killer by dint of the skills of Detective Stacey Chen, an IT expert and hacker extraordinaire. Stacey backdoors her way into a book-selling website, CCTV camera files, motor vehicle registers, etc. and finds information that leads to the killer - and she does this all in a day or so!! To me this kind of resolution to a mystery book feels like cheating, more 'magic' than detective work.



The discovery of who leaked the breathalyzer story was also resolved too easily in my opinion. One of the MIT detectives had once been involved with a reporter...and he asked her.

There's more going on in the book as well. The issue of online bullying is addressed and the reader learns more about the lives of the characters. Carol is struggling with her alcoholism; Tony is trying to re-establish a close (not necessarily romantic) friendship with Carol; Stacey is in a relationship with a handsome but shallow fellow detective; some Bradfield detectives are trying to undermine Carol; the killer has issues stemming from childhood; and more.

All in all I enjoyed the story, which has an interesting variety of characters and an engaging mystery. I'd read more books in this series.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Review of "The Broken Window: A Lincoln Rhyme Mystery" by Jeffery Deaver

In this book, wheelchair-bound criminalist Lincoln Rhyme and his partner, detective Amelia Sachs, are drawn into the investigation when Lincoln's cousin Arthur Rhyme is arrested for murder. Lincoln and his team soon discover that the real murderer is a serial rapist/murderer who uses personal information from a data mining company to lure his victims and to plant evidence so innocent people are arrested for the crimes. The source of the personal data used by the perpetrator seems to be an inform   In this eighth book in the 'Lincoln Rhyme' series, the quadriplegic criminalist and his partner, detective Amelia Sachs, are drawn into the investigation when Lincoln's cousin is accused of murder. The book can be read as a standalone, but familiarity with the characters is a bonus. ***** When Lincoln Rhyme's cousin Arthur Rhyme is arrested for murder, Lincoln and his team soon discover that the real murderer is a serial rapist/murderer who uses personal information from a data mining company to lure his victims and to plant evidence so innocent people are arrested for the crimes. The source of the personal data used by the perpetrator seems to be an information collection company called Strategic Systems Datacorp (SSD). When Lincoln's team starts to investigate SSD, the murderer - dubbed "522" - realizes that his plan has been discovered. Enraged, he cooks up schemes to get the detectives off his trail so he can continue his crime spree. Deavers is a master at this type of story and the book zips along at a brisk pace and holds your interest. Aside from the plot I was very interested to learn how much information about us is collected and collated by professional "data collectors." They apparently itemize the kinds and brands of products we use, our educational history, what kind of vacations we take, what restaurants we favor, where we get our hair cut, etc. etc. Ditto for all our relatives, friends, and acquaintances. In the book, the murderer makes use of this kind of information to plot his crimes. Rating: 3 stars

Review of "The Bloodletter's Daughter: A Novel of Old Bohemia" by Linda Lafferty

This book was inspired by the true story of Don Julius, the illegitimate son of Hapsburg Emperor Rudolf. Don Julius was a mentally ill young man who scandalized the Holy Roman Empire in the early 1600s, when he cold-bloodedly murdered a young girl who worked in a Bohemian bathhouse.



As the book opens an adolescent Don Julius is obsessed with deciphering the secrets of a book called 'The Coded Book of Wonder', an activity which seems to quiet the evil voices in his head. Emperor Rudolf, thinking his son Julius should get out and about, forbids the boy from reading the book. Don Julius then devotes his time to feasting and debauchery and grows up to be a violent, obese young man who copulates in the streets and terrorizes the people of Prague, where he lives.

Fearing backlash from the public the Emperor sends his son to a village called Český Krumlov in Bohemia, where Julius is essentially imprisoned in a castle with guards, a priest, and a doctor. A local barber-surgeon named Pichler is hired to cure the mad royal using the medical treatment of the time - blood-letting and leeches.

To assist him, Pilchler brings his daughter Marketa, a pretty young girl who works in the family-run bathhouse but longs to be a doctor. The descriptions of what goes on in the bathhouse are quite graphic. The male customers paw and pinch the bathhouse girls, masturbate, and one particularly gross customer negotiates with Marketa's mother to take Marketa's virginity when she gets a little older.



Deranged Julius, convinced that Marketa is an angel from 'The Coded Book of Wonder', becomes obsessed with her - and his subsequent behavior has terrible consequences. Though the book is fiction, the historical events depicted are plausible and the arrogance and behavior of the Empire's rulers is shocking. It seems a prince of the realm could rape and pillage as he pleased with the townsfolk having no one to turn to for help. Nevertheless the murder of an innocent girl was apparently a step too far and Emperor Rudolf was forced to act, especially since his brother was already plotting to replace him on the throne.

The story's setting is well-portrayed and the characters are vividly described and believable though I disliked many of them, including Don Julius, his priest, Marketa's mother, and most of the patrons of the bathhouse. The author does a laudable job fictionalizing Don Julius's life but for me the story moves slowly and isn't totally compelling. Fans of historical fiction, though, might like the book better than I did.

Rating: 3 stars

Review of "The Mind's Eye" by Oliver Sacks

Dr. Oliver Sacks was a practicing neurologist and professor who wrote a number of popular books about people afflicted with neurological disorders and/or brain damage.


Dr. Oliver Sacks

In this book Sacks relates stories about patients who developed problems with their eyes or the 'vision' areas of the brain, including loss of the ability to read, inability to recognize everday objects, and impairment of stereoscopic and/or peripheral vision. Sacks also tells a very personal story about his own eye tumor.

Sacks starts with the story of Lillian Kallir, a gifted concert pianist who slowly lost her ability to read music, then words (writing), and finally the ability to identify mundane objects like a fruit or a violin. Through it all, Lillian retained her writing skills and maintained a lively correspondence - though she couldn't read what she wrote. (I'll admit, this seems REALLY strange to me.)


Lillian Kallir

In normal life Lillian functioned, in part, by memorizing the location of objects around her. Sacks tells a story of having tea at Lillian's house and inadvertently moving a plate of biscuits, after which Lillian could no longer 'see' the biscuits - though they were still on the table. Lillian never recovered her lost abilities but was able to live a (more or less) normal life because of her musical gifts, excellent memory, and the help of her husband, friends, and doctors.



Sacks also relates stories about other individuals who lost their ability to read and/or recognize objects - usually due to a stroke or brain injury - and how they coped (or didn't) with the problem. Some patients eventually recovered their capabilities, some didn't.

Another interesting topic Sacks address is the inability of some people (including himself) to recognize faces, a condition called prosopagnosia. This problem apparently plagued Sacks for all his life. He tells one story about leaving the office of his long-time psychiatrist, then meeting a gentleman in the lobby who addressed him in a friendly manner. Sacks had no idea who this was....until his psychiatrist identified himself. This problem can be so significant that some patients can't even identify their spouse or children in an 'out of context' situation. Prosopagnosia apparently affects a significant proportion of the population, and sufferers must develop coping mechanisms as best they can. (The actor, Brad Pitt, said he suffers from this condition.)



In the most personal part of the book Sacks relates his own experience with an eye tumor, his radiation and laser treatments, and the eventual loss of almost all vision in his right eye. This resulted in a diminution of both stereoscopic and peripheral vision.



Again, in his humorous self-deprecating style, Sacks relates incidents of missing stairs, bumping into and tripping over furniture and dogs, and not seeing things around him. He relates the discomfiture of having people or objects 'disappear' from his right side, then suddenly appear again.



Sacks goes on to relate the stories of several people who either gained or lost stereoscopic vision. One woman who obtained stereoscopic vision after seeing everything in only two dimensions was mesmerized by seeing, for the first time, her steering wheel projecting from the dashboard and her rear-view mirror sticking out from the windshield. Overall, (for me) these sections are the weakest part of the book, being too long and repetitive.



Along with the various stories in the book Sacks discusses parts of the brain that are specialized for specific 'visual' functions, how these brain areas interact, and how malfunction or damage in these areas affects people's vision, reading, object recognition, and so on.



All in all, an interesting and informative book.

Rating: 3 stars

Review of "The Absent One: A Department Q Novel" by Jussi Adler-Olsen

In this second book in the 'Department Q' series, Detective Morck investigates a double murder in a boarding school two decades ago. The book can be read as a standalone.


Boarding School

(FYI: The book was adapted into a movie. The illustrations are from the film.)


Movie Poster

*****

Detective Carl Morck's 'Department Q' in Copenhagen, Denmark - which investigates cold cases - has a new task. Two boarding school students, a brother and sister, were killed twenty years ago and a clique of unruly fellow students were suspects. Evidence was lacking, however, and the students weren't charged.


Two unruly students in the clique

Then, almost a decade later, one of the students confessed and went to prison. The others went on their way, the men becoming rich, successful businessmen and the lone woman in the group becoming a homeless bag lady. Morck believes the whole clique committed the murders and decides to re-investigate the case.


The male students grow up to be successful businessmen


The female student, Kimmie, grows up to be a homeless vagrant

The delinquent boarding school students are psychopaths who delight in beating up and killing people among other things.


The clique of psychopaths

Their activities continue into adulthood and Morck's team uncovers a series of crimes the clique may have committed. The men in the group feel invulnerable because they have connections in high places and, in fact, certain police officials and politicians attempt to thwart Morck's investigation.


Businessman feels invulnerable

Nevertheless the criminals are concerned. They know Kimmie (the bag lady) has a box of trophies from their victims and they're desperate to get the box. Thus Kimmie is being sought by thugs as well as the police. The lifestyles, debauchery, and criminal inclinations of Kimmie and the men are described in some detail and it's clear that the men are evil and Kimmie is deranged.


Kimmie defends herself

On the lighter side, Department Q - which started out with Morck and his very clever assistant Assad - is deemed to merit a new employee, secretary Rose Knudsen. Rose is a smart, strong-willed woman who's determined to enhance the basement facilities of Morck's squad. Morck doesn't like Rose though and - in his curmudgeonly fashion - plots to get rid of her. The interactions between Morck and Rose provide some of the more amusing moments in this very dark story.


Morck and Assad


Rose

Morck's team works hard to overcome obstacles and collect clues. Meanwhile, Morck is dealing with his personal issues, which include lusting after the department psychologist, worrying about his paralyzed former partner Hardy, and living with his teenage stepson.

The book is well-written, interesting, and comes to a satisfactory conclusion. However I didn't enjoy it as much as the first book in the Department Q series (The Keeper of Lost Causes) - which seems more balanced in terms of evil people/horrible crimes vs. amusing characters/scenes. Nevertheless, this is a good book, recommended for mystery fans.

Rating: 3.5 stars