Blue Lightning
By Ann Cleeves, Macmillan, 357 pages, $29.99
Readers who haven’t already discovered Britain’s brilliant Ann Cleeves are in for a treat. Blue Lightning is the fourth and final novel in her series set in the Shetland Islands, and it’s the best only because it’s the last. But don’t begin here; get to the bookstore and get Raven Black, White Nights and Red Bones, the first three in the series.
Like the marvellous P.D. James, Cleeves uses setting to drive both character and narrative. The Shetlands – small, isolated, with a unique culture – is the perfect spot for her, and her detective, Inspector James (Jimmy) Perez is the perfect copper.
In this final episode, Jimmy returns to his childhood home on Fair Isle (where the knits come from) to celebrate his upcoming marriage to his beloved Fran. It’s to be a holiday, a time for Fran to bond with his family, for him to introduce her to his childhood haunts.
But weather spoils the trip. A storm moves in, everyone is trapped indoors. It’s Fair Isle at its deadly worst. Then a murder at the local nature conservancy takes Jimmy back into action, alone, without his squad, isolated and fearing the worst.
Any more would be a spoiler, but this gloss on the old locked-room plot is a doozy. There is even a mention of Dame Agatha’s Ten Little Indians, in case you miss the twist, but the end of this one is a shocker. Don’t, whatever you do, skip to the end. The Shetland quartet has been optioned for television, so we can expect to see it soon, but do read the novels first and relish the Shetlands as Cleeves intended.
Dying Gasp
By Leighton Gage, Soho, 274 pages, $28
This is the third novel by Gage featuring the Brazilian detective Chief Inspector Mario Silva, and after reading it, I dashed out to get the other two. Gage, an American married to a Brazilian, gives us the perfect outsider’s inside look at a system hobbled by nepotism, bribery and corruption, but which, at the same time, delivers justice.
The plot is both simple and complex. It begins in Amsterdam, where a terrorist blows up a building and, incidentally, a postal van. The postal inspector assigned to sort out the damaged mail makes a gruesome discovery and turns it in to the police.
Meanwhile, in Brazil, the daughter of a high government official has gone missing. Chief Inspector Silva is assigned to the task of finding her. It is clear from the outset that there are many mysteries here, not the least of which is why the family waited for weeks to notify the police.
At the same time, Gage takes us into the terrified world of a girl destined for sex slavery. He works all the themes together in a masterful plot that combines solid police work, clever timing and excellent pacing. Dying Gasp is the best of the three Silva novels I’ve read, but I loved the other two as well. This is a writer to watch.
Snow Angels
By James Thompson, Putnam’s, 272 pages, $31
James Thompson is an American from Kentucky who has lived for the past decade in Finland. That eccentric background alone is enough to recommend this wonderful debut novel. Thompson combines the American passion for tough guys with a genuine love for his adopted homeland. Like many other previous mystery writers, he wants to use the form to introduce us to another culture that he knows and respects.
