Review: Cockroaches

Cockroaches by Jo Nesbø
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

In which Harry Hole goes to Thailand to investigate the death of a (most unqualified) ambassador, and realizes just how much that guy got into some creepy corruption in his host country. As with its predecessor, it feels very ahead of its time, striving to present a non-stereotypical view of the country which Harry is visiting. It’s a little less successful in that regard than the first book, but only because the storyline relies on investigating certain vices for which Thailand is already notorious in real life (and I’m not quite sure how accurate they are, especially when katoey prostitutes enter the fray, but I’ve never been to Thailand so I can’t fully understand it.)

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Review: Into the Leopard's Den

Into the Leopard's Den by Harini Nagendra
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The fourth novel in the Bangalore Detectives Club series goes into the misty mountains of Coorg, deep in the countryside of Karnataka outside the city of Bangalore, where Kaveri investigates a string of murders linked to the place where her husband is currently on duty as a doctor. The narrative is a bit unfocused in this book, but it does come full circle in the end, especially bringing back a fair few characters who were introduced in previous novels and didn't get as much to do there. Though I hope this isn't the end of the series, it also does feel like we reach a natural stopping point, especially with the very last scene in this book.

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Review: The Bat

The Bat by Jo Nesbø
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Nordic noir down under? Y’know what, it works for me. I think I might’ve read some of Nesbø’s other Harry Hole books a while ago, but I’d already forgotten most of the details, and since Nesbø himself is now writing the series adaptation for Netflix, I figured I should go back to the beginning. Interestingly, this book didn’t get translated into English for 15 years after its initial publication, but for a 90s era book, it actually feels a bit ahead of its time, especially in terms of Aboriginal Australian representation. Nesbø does a great job avoiding stereotypes thereof and fleshing out characters like Andrew Kensington, Hole’s partner in Sydney and beyond. As for Hole, he’s got a sad side and tons of tragedy in his past, but he’s far more likable than most of the typical assholes that populate the ranks of Nordic noir protagonists. I think I’ll be sticking with this series for a while, hopefully even catching up before long.

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Review: The Murder at World's End

The Murder at World's End by Ross Montgomery
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The first in a projected period mystery series focusing on a young man named Stephen Pike, fresh out of prison for a crime he didn't commit, and the gloriously foul-mouthed elder Lady Decima Stockingham feels both timeless and modern at the same time. Set in a meteorologically moody estate in Cornwall in 1910, Stephen and Lady Decima are soon forced to follow a classic locked-room mystery - the death of Decima's brother, who ordered the entire manse sealed off because he believed Halley's Comet would toxify the earth in its transit. Sadly, scientific stupidity remains alive and well today, and the story could almost be set in the present day with little change as a result. Unlike the last time the internet really pushed a new mystery series - Benjamin Stevenson's Everyone in my Family Has Killed Someone - I'd say this time, the internet marketing machine got it right.

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Review: A Nest of Vipers

A Nest of Vipers by Harini Nagendra
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Bangalore Detectives' Club returns for their third complicated mystery, involving a traveling circus troupe, traditional Indian magic, and an impending visit from the Prince of Wales at a time when his previous visits have been marked by riots in other cities. While Kaveri and her allies are absolutely independence minded - and know well of Gandhiji and his movement, though they have a wide range of conflicting thoughts about him and how effective he may be - they have to walk on a tightrope to keep the British from cracking down hard on them like they all know the Brits want to do. Where this book shines the most, though, is the character development - especially for Bhargavi, who spent the first two books as a prototypically grumpy mother-in-law and has finally started to really come around to having Kaveri in her family. And that ending with the final twist...oh, I hope Nagendra doesn't turn that one into tragedy in Book 4...

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Review: The Dragon and the Sun Lotus

The Dragon and the Sun Lotus by Amélie Wen Zhao
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

As always, it's a great sight to see when Amélie Wen Zhao proves her old YA Twitter haters wrong again and again, and now with the conclusion of her third straight fantasy series. Like in the first book of this saga, Zhao chalks up a great deal of her greatest hits in the action and romance departments, but particularly where she writes a love triangle that's truly for the ages. Additionally, this book shifts briefly at times into Yù’chén's POV instead of Àn’yīng's, and Zhao knows when to hit that switch to the greatest effect. In the end, it's sad to see this series end, but Zhao's career has truly become one of the most rock-steady in the YA business, so we know this isn't the end for her. But for the Three Realms, until we meet again, 再见.

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Review: Murder Under a Red Moon

Murder Under a Red Moon by Harini Nagendra
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Bangalore Detectives' Club returns to solve a murder on an inauspicious night, the night of a lunar eclipse, when the most traditional people of this time and place would otherwise be holed up inside to stay safe from ill omens. Like the first book in this series, it's a relatively short one, but it's loaded for bear with thematically important storylines all converging - storylines about increasing tension between the Indians and their English colonizers, a rising feminist movement or two, and a self-styled godman "Swamiji" whom anyone with sense (like Kaveri, of course) can sense as a charlatan at best and a predator at worst. This series is now becoming one of my new favorites, and I've already got the remaining two (so far) in my current stack from the library.)

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