Review: The Lighthouse at the End of the World

The Lighthouse at the End of the World by Philip Suggars
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I went into this book expecting a multiversal London portal fantasy in the style of V.E. Schwab - which would’ve been a great thing to have during the endless wait for the next book after The Fragile Threads of Power - but instead, I got what amounts to the London version of The Magicians, mercifully without a perpetually depressed protagonist- this one could make a great Taron Egerton vehicle, let’s be honest - but with a lot of stereotypical foreign characters, particularly Mayra, an over the top Russian who wouldn’t have been out of place in Lev Grossman’s books or their Syfy adaptation. Though I did manage to finish this one, it’s definitely a disappointment, I’m sorry to say.

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Review: The Crime Brûlée Bake Off

The Crime Brûlée Bake Off by Rebecca Connolly
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The first in this new British mystery series only feels cozy because it takes place on the set of a TV baking competition, but its dark connections to a historical death at the filming location, a classic country manor, give it a tricky tonal balancing act. It’s a bit of a slow moving story, molasses slow at times even. But the on set banter, particularly between protagonist Claire and her aristocratic love interest Jonathan, keeps my interest the most. The greatest highlight by far, though, is the well layered millefeuille joke that opens Chapter 9.

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Review: The Devil's Star

The Devil's Star by Jo Nesbø
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The book which Netflix is adapting first for their new Jo Nesbø’s Detective Hole series, and now I know how it’s gonna play out while I’m still at only episode 2. But it’s gonna be a satisfying ride to get there, knowing not only how the main serial killer plot of this book goes, but also the long awaited conclusion of the Waaler story arc. After years of knowing Joel Kinnaman best for his role on For All Mankind, it’s something else to see him play against type as a villain as dangerous and corrupt as Waaler. I’ll be briefly breaking away from this series to catch up on some others, but I’ve also already got two more from Nesbø waiting in the wings…

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Review: Nemesis

Nemesis by Jo Nesbø
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Harry Hole follows up on his investigation of lingering Nazi nonsense with a more personal story, as he wakes up with a touch of amnesia one morning and is the prime suspect in a woman's death, with his work nemesis Waaler happily leading the investigation against him. It's a shorter yet slower paced book compared to The Redbreast, although very Hitchcockian, and still with a bit of international intrigue involving bank robberies and a jaunt to Brazil. (It really amuses me that every book so far has Harry going to a much warmer country, with mixed results as he adjusts to culture and climate alike.) Overall, though, I'd say this one does its best setting up for the next book, the one that's been adapted into the new Netflix series, as Harry's (presumably) final confrontation with Waaler.

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Review: The Redbreast

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

Harry Hole’s third mystery is the first one set predominantly in Norway, although it also features a few international jaunts (South Africa being a prominent one), as well as lots of flashbacks to WWII to showcase a few Nazi traitors in the country that made Quisling’s name synonymous with such. Additionally, there’s the backdrop of the Oslo Accords, and the present day neo-Nazis of 1999/2000 turning their hatred towards Muslim immigrants from Pakistan and other countries. It’s easy to see this book in particular as having influenced Stieg Larsson’s work, particularly in an anti-fascist context. And now that I’m watching the new Netflix adaptation, now I can really see how Joel Kinnaman’s Waaler started out as Harry’s first great nemesis, and this before the book of that title comes up in the series…

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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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