A dreary and meandering story

A story set in Yorkshire around the towns of Whitby, Bridlington and the village of Kettleness with coastal cliffs, hidden coves and unexplored tunnels. Into this setting enters Jared a troubled young man with an acute back injury resulting in an addiction to painkillers, Becca leaving her university course for an uncertain life, and fostered periodically by the recently widowed Kay struggling to come to terms with life after the death of her beloved Matt. I was hoping that both the setting, and the somewhat damaged characters, would be the basis for an exciting adventure especially after the discovery of a body hidden deep underground and the emergence of some shady characters most notably Greaseball Harry affectionately known as GBH. Unfortunately my initial enthusiasm was not realized as the story quickly developed into an unremarkable meandering and at best mediocre tale. I was not impressed with the author and her style of writing, not even the untamed bleak Yorkshire coastal landscape could save this sorry tale. Many thanks to the good people at netgalley for a gratis copy in exchange for an honest review and that is what I have written

Overcomplicated plot

Now let's agree on something at the start of this review, I love the writing of Robert Galbraith. This is the fourth outing for PI Cormoran Strike and his now partner in crime the effervescent Robin Ellacott. At just under 650 pages Lethal White is not for the faint hearted, dip in and out, casual browser, it requires some serious concentration and reading time. It is not really the length of the book that is the problem to me, the first 3 in the series are all around the 600 page mark and the authors style of interactive, descriptive writing lends itself to a heavy page count. The real issue I have with Lethal White is an over complicated plot and a story that at times seems to run around in ever repeating circles (thank goodness for those lighter moments involving Strike, Robin and Mathew) We have a murder, a possible historical murder, blackmail, complicated family structures and a seemingly endless list of well heeled yuppies (upper class twits to you and me) who do not speak in the vernacular but rather their own adapted version of the English Language (think ya instead of yes and you get the idea!) and with an ever flourishing list of gold collar names....Kinvara, Izzy, Fizzy, Venetia, Raff, Torquil, Jasper, Tegan. This scenario creates an endless list of possible perpetrators that would be the envy of a hardened Agatha Christie devotee.

However the real enjoyment from this series is the interplay and relationship, if any, between Robin and Cormoran now that the former has married her childhood sweetheart and controlling boyfriend Matthew. Strike is a damaged Afghanistan war veteran who lost a leg when his vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device (IED) As a PI in modern day London he must perform his job with the additional handicap of a prosthetic lower right leg. We the reader feel the grief and agony as our damaged antihero must battle not only evil, but the constant pain and suffering from an unforgiving and over used body. The best book in the Strike series is No 3 Career of Evil when a gruesome amputated limb is received at the PI's London office. Book 3 is a gritty affair relying a lot more on action and plot rather than endless "upper-class" dialogue the downfall of Lethal White. I accept that the Strike series is not an arena for serial killers but equally it should not be the playground of an Oxford/Cambridge debating society so let's hope for a much more gritty detective in outing No 5. A worthy but essentially disappointing read.

Hauntingly beautiful

Waking up on a cold winter's morning, after a snowfall, and the streets are eerily quiet. Snowfall always seems to create an uneasy, sometimes sombre atmosphere, invading our structured world and our cosy existence. White snowy  panoramic pictures have been used to great effect in the past in such bestsellers as The Shining by Stephen King, The Snowman by Jo Nesbo, Snowblind by Ragnar Jonasson (although all Nordic crime could probably be included) and not forgetting the excellent Snowblind by Michael McBride and the hauntingly alluring Travelling in a Strange Land by Irish author David Park.

The title "The Silent Land" by Graham Joyce instantly creates for the reader a bare and deserted landscape..."There wasn't a track anywhere to be seen in the light, powdery snow. The grey pregnant clouds loured above them, but there were blue smudges in the sky. A transforming power had breathed over the land and turned it into a perfect wedding cake"..... Into this wintry scene steps Zoe and Jake enjoying themselves on a skiing holiday in the French Pyrenees when an avalanche, the dread of all skiers and climbers, strikes without warning and buries our two adventurers. They survive but on returning back to the ski village they discover a place devoid of any human contact, seemingly deserted, and each time they attempt to walk/ski out, strangely, they always return back to the same starting point. As time passes, and the hope of any rescue seems to fade, both are troubled by visions and dreams and soon they come to the realization that perhaps no one actually survived the avalanche.

Graham Joyce has written a beautifully balanced tale of two lovers facing an uncertain future knowing that having cheated death they do in fact remain in a very precarious position. The author has ample time to explore the lives of Zoe and Jake and in particular I enjoyed the scene with Jake's father Peter suffering from bone cancer and cruelly beginning to lose his mind..."And yet now that he saw his father lying on the hospital bed he wanted to hug him. This father who suddenly, inexplicably and contrary to a lifetime of restraint had started swearing"......This short novel contains many surprises which thankfully I have not disclosed, a story that could and should be read in one sitting, preferably on a cold winters night with all doors securely locked and only a roaring log fire and a tumbler of hot whisky for company!....highly recommended 

The Hangman of Prague

Reinhard Heydrich..."the most dangerous man in the Third Reich, the Hangman of Prague, the Butcher, the Blond Beast, the Goat"....has an unenviable reputation of being one of the most vicious and ruthless Nazi thugs during the second world war. As well as being a master swordsman, an accomplished violinist, he was equally up to the task of murder, genocide and the removal of any human being that did not conform to the Aryan idea of the master race.

HHhH by Lauren Binet creates a fictional account, from the known facts, of the events leading up to and including the death of Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich in Prague on June 4th 1942. It is an unusual book written in a very readable style and as an introduction to the world of this ruthless man makes a worthwhile contribution. I particularly enjoyed (if this is the correct term) the tension and the build up to the to the assassination by two specially trained agents, Jozek Gabcik and Jan Kubis. The aftermath and reprisals of the Nazis was a heartless and cowardly way to break the will of the Czech  populace reminding them of their need for subservience to the mighty German overlord.