5 recent reads: Silent Mercy, Chasing Fire | Manawatu-Wanganui Lifestyle News | Health, Fashion, Food and Wine in Manawatu-Wanganui

Silent Mercy
by Linda Fairstein, Little, Brown, $39.99
Reviewed by: Julie Taylor

When the decapitated body of a naked woman is found within the locked gates of a New York Baptist church, assistant district attorney Alexandra Cooper is one of the first on the scene.

Despite pressure from her boss, "Coop" stays on the case as another body is dumped outside a Catholic church in similar circumstances.

Fairstein delivers a good thriller, with accurate police procedural details and church history.

There is, perhaps, a little too much history for many tastes, but you can't help but appreciate the background research.

Coop and her colleagues are now an established team in the crime section of the library and it's hard to beat a mystery novel where the prime suspect appears to be an orang-utan.

Chasing Fire
by Nora Roberts, Piatkus (Hachette), $40
Reviewed by: Kevin Ball

Rowan Tripp follows her father into one of the world's most dangerous jobs, that of a "smoke jumper" - a firefighter who parachutes into forest fires.

Rowan is still haunted by the horrible death of her jump partner, who accidentally flew into the heart of a fire.
Somebody blames Rowan for the young man's death, and a series of "accidents" have the team on high alert.

When the bodies of murdered individuals begin to be found in forest fire ashes the tension soars, and Rowan finds refuge in the arms of  recruit Gull Curry.

Roberts knows her stuff when it comes to forest fires and  captures the atmosphere brilliantly.
 
The Calling of The Grave
by Simon Beckett, Random House, $39.99
Reviewed by: Lisa Anderson

This is Beckett's fourth novel featuring forensics expert David Hunter. Eight years ago a body was discovered on the Moors. There seems little doubt the man responsible is  psychotic rapist and multiple murderer Jerome Monk.

A  decade later, Monk escapes and  Hunter finds himself back in the middle of a murder investigation he  always had doubts about.

For those who have read the previous Hunter books, this will be an  undemanding read. For those, like me, new to the scene, Beckett lost me halfway through, which is often the danger when telling a story in two time periods.  This, unfortunately, left a gap in my interest and:  made reading the second half of the novel a job rather than a joy.

Comedy in a Minor Key
by Hans Keilson, Scribe, $22.95
Reviewed by: Graeme Barrow

This is an  English translation of a  remarkable novella of  1947, published  to commemorate the 102nd anniversary  of the author'sbirth.

It is a simply told story  of a situation that is anything but simple. A Dutch couple hide a Jew during  World War II and although the Nazis are never mentioned, their presence intrudes in a sinister way.

The book details daily conversations and routines.  He (Nico, they call him) is confined to his upstairs room. They must take every possible precaution.  What if they are suspected? Who can be trusted?

It is amazing how a book which largely consists of dialogue and mundane domestic behaviour can create such tension. It's a minor masterpiece.

The Red Coffin
by Sam Eastland, Faber & Faber, $30
Reviewed by: Iain Duffy

The Red Coffin is a  tank that  Soviet Union leader Josef Stalin wants to keep under wraps until all its  faults have been sorted out.

It is 1939 and Stalin, facing problems with Nazi Germany,  is relying on the Red Coffin to beat the Nazis.

Why the nickname? If  the tank is hit by enemy fire and disabled the crew cannot escape. Stalin instructs his most trusted investigator to look into the murder of the tank's eccentric  architect.

It's a very interesting and plausible yarn. The investigator, Pekkala, is a character  who grows on the reader. He becomes more likeable as the story progresses, while his boss  becomes the madman well recorded in history books.