May MysteryKIT - European mysteries

LT May MysteryKIT 2021 – European Mysteries


Welcome to the May topic – European mysteries! Despite the above image, I don’t promise these are the best or unknown to you – sorry to get your hopes up 😊

As usual, each of you can make your own determination of what “counts” for this challenge. My first thought on this category was for mysteries written by authors from continental Europe (i.e. not British) but that misses out so many wonderful mysteries set in Europe that are written by other authors. However, because that was my first thought my examples focus on those authors who did not originally write in English.

I have listed authors with their main detective in parentheses.

France: Georges Simenon (Maigret), Fred Vargas (Commissaire Adamsberg), Jean-Pierre Alaux & Noël Balen (the Winemaker detectives), Pierre Magnan (Laviolette), etc.
set in France: Martin Walker (Chief of Police Bruno)

Italy: Andrea Camilleri (Montalbano), Roberto Constantini (Michele Balistreri)
set in Italy: Michael Dibdin (Aurelio Zen), Donna Leon (Commissario Brunetti), Lindsey Davis (Marcus Falco)

Spain: Alicia Giménez Bartlett (Petra Delicado), Manuel Vázquez Montalbán (Pepe Carvalho)
set in Spain: Delano Ames (Juan Llorca)

Russia: Boris Akunin (Fandorin)
set in Russia (or USSR): Martin Cruz Smith (Renko)

Iceland: Arnaldur Indridason (Erlunder)

Sweden: Henning Mankell (Wallender), Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö (Martin Beck), etc.

Norway: Anne Holt (Hanne Wilhelmsen), Jo Nesbø (Harry Hole), Karin Fossum (Konrad Sejer)

Denmark: Jussi Adler-Olsen (Dept. Q)

The Netherlands (Holland): Nicolas Freeling (van der Valk)

Greece: Petros Markaris (Costas Haritos)
set in Greece: Jeffrey Siger (Andreas Kaldis), Gary Corby (Nicolaos)

Germany: Jacob Arjouni (Kayankaya), Oliver Pötzsch (Jacob Kuisl), Christoph Spielberg (Dr. Felix Hoffmann)

Belgium: Pieter Aspe (Van In)

Well, this list is already pretty long so I will stop there despite missing countries & authors I'd love to include.

I'll probably read the next for me in the Bruno, Chief of Police series number 7. It has two titles Death Under Cover or Children of War. I also have the first in the series by Michael Dbdin on the shelf, Ratking so I'll read it too if I have time.

I'll probably read the next for me in the Bruno, Chief of Police series by Martin Walker, number 7. I also have the first in the series by Michael Dbdin on the shelf, Ratking, so I'll read it too if I have time.

I'll plan for Eva's Eye by Karin Fossum

This Poison Will Remain by the French author Fred Vargas has been sitting on my shelf for quite some time.

Another possibility is The Invisible Guardian by the Spanish author Dolores Redondo

I plan to read The Safety Net by Andrea Camilleri, #25 (?) in the Inspector Montalbano series & a Maigret - hopefully my library hold on The Yellow Dog will come in by May (or if it comes more quickly then I'll read the next one).

I also have a couple of Anne Holt books on my dad's Kindle...

I'm thinking I'll read the second Maigret, Le Charretier de la Providence, which is called in my elderly Penguin translation Maigret Meets a Milord. I wish my French were good enough to read it in the original!

>7 NinieB: I tried that once decades ago - but my school girl French wasn't up to the task and I never tried again.

I am planning on reading The Ice Princess by Swedish author Camilla Lackberg.

Under Russia please consider an Inspector Porfiry Petrovich Rostnikov mystery by Stuart Kaminsky. There are 16 books in the series, and I recommend you start near the beginning if you can, as the characters develop with each book. Death of a Dissident is #1.

So many options! At a minimum, I'll probably read Black Diamond by Martin Walker, the third in the Bruno series.

I think I will be reading:
Headhunters / Jo Nesbo (Norway)

Thanks for this great introductory post!!!

I must admit that I've never heard of the three German authors you mention! LOL - But I'm not into German crime novels, so I'm sure it's my fault.

My goal for May is to read the fourth Wallander novel (next up in the series for me) and a Maigret one.
Yesterday, I also bought Forsberg und das verschwundene Mädchen (not touchstone and can't find it on LT yet), a crime novel taking place in Sweden but written by a German author. I read about it in my local bookshop's newsletter and it immediately caught my attention.

I will probably stick with Dame Agatha for this one. Planning to finish Midwinter Murder.

I plan to get The Chalk Circle Man by Fred Vargas from my library for this one. Haven't read any of the suggested authors before other than Simenon, so trying something new :)

I have chosen the first book in Boris Akunin's Sister Pelagia series, Sister Pelagia and the White Bulldog.

>16 JayneCM: Oh, I'll be interested in hearing about that - I have mixed feelings about his Fandorin books.

Starting the month with Harry Hole #9, Jo Nesbø's Phantom.

COMPLETED This Poison Will Remain by Fred Vargas

My review:

Three old men die in quick succession, apparently bitten by poisonous spiders. But the bites are rarely if ever fatal so is there something more sinister going on?

I found some of the psychological musings most unlikely (arachnophobia has its origin in childhood sexual abuse, seriously? ) but despite that I did manage to finger the culprit fairly early on.

I have finished Au Rendezvous des Terre-Neuvas which is an early Maigret mystery set in Fécamp, Normandy.

And I have also finished Die tückische Straße, a collection of 19 short stories dealing with crime and anti-social behaviour from 1927, set in different European cities. Unfortunately, the characters are all very unlikeable.

I read Forsberg und das verschwundene Mädchen by Ben Tomasson. He is a German author, but the story takes place in Sweden.

I ended up reading Treachery in Bordeaux by Jean-Pierre Alaux since I couldn't get The Chalk Circle Man which is what I had originally planned to read.

I've read two, Death Undercover by Martin Walker and The Gauguin Connection by Estelle Ryan. Both took place in France.

June thread is up!

I read Simenon's second Maigret, Maigret Meets a Milord (original title Le Charretier de la Providence).

I read In Bad Company, which is set in Sweden.

I am reading a Nordic Noir set in Sweden and translated from Swedish for this challenge.
Sidetracked by Henning Mankell

Just finished The Track of Sand by Andrea Camilleri who is always entertaining.

I finished The Shape of Water by Andrea Camilleri, which is set in Italy.

I have finished a Maigret mystery set in the Vendée: La maison du juge. Rather unusual plot...

So far this month I've visited England (Scilly Isles, Brighton), Italy (Venice & Tuscany), and Iceland. I'm now visiting East Anglia by reading Death Walks in Eastrepps. Not sure if I'll make it to other European destinations or not.

I have completed my read of The Ice Princess by Camilla Lackberg and although it wasn't perfect, I enjoyed it enough that I will be continuing on with the series.

Headhunters / Jo Nesbo
3 stars

Roger Brown is a headhunter, pretty much the best. He is married to Diana, but can’t really afford the lifestyle she wants. She runs a small art gallery (that he paid for). When the former head of a tech company in Amsterdam comes to Norway, he is the perfect candidate for a big tech company in Oslo. When Roger meets him, he also discovers that he has a rare piece of artwork. Far too tempting for the sometimes-art thief/forger! And things go very awry…

It took me a while to “get into” this. Even when it picked up, unfortunately, my mind was a bit elsewhere, but I did get my mind back on what I was reading after a bit. At first, the twist at the end confused me a bit, but it was explained. It’s kind of one of those things where it’s tempting to go back knowing what you know “now”, at the end of the book, to see how you had been led astray in your thinking. I’m rating it “ok”, but I feel like if my mind had been paying better attention at the moment it picked up, I “should” be rating it good.