Zugzwang by Ronan Bennett

In 1914, St. Petersburg is getting ready for the World Chess Tournament. That is not the only thing St.Petersburg is getting ready for. Russia is getting ready for the Revolution. In these tumultuous times not just Russia, the whole of Europe is gearing up for the Great War, the War to end all Wars. Psychoanalysts and Amateur chess player Dr. Septhmann unwillingly gets involved in things that force him to move, but every move he makes puts him in a worse off situation than before-Zugzwang. Not only personally, but Russia with its various factions and the whole world are in a Zugzwang.

As explained at the start of the book, Zugzwang is derived from the German, zug (move) + Zwang (compulsion, obligation) and in chess it is used to describe a position in which a player is reduced to a state of utter helplessness. He is obliged to move, but every move only makes his position even worse.

The story starts with the death of a journalists named Gulko and another man called Alexander Yastrebov. When Russian police start enquiring Dr.Septhmann and his daughter about the murders, Septhmann confides his worries to a client named Anna who suffers from nightmares , she decides to help him by putting a word to her influential father. Her father promises to look into the matter. But despite his promise Septhmann and his daughter are arrested and briefly thrown into prison. Is his university going daughter somehow involved in these events?

There are various organisations and factions in Russia spying at each other and conspiring against one another, each with its own agenda. Okhrana, the secret police, the Socialist Party, setting the pieces for the Bolshevik Revolution and the Police with its own agenda are just a few. There is a spy in higher ranks in the Socialist party called King who is leaking out all the important moves made by them. Who is the spy? How is all this connected to a psychoanalyst and amateur chess enthusiasts Dr.Septhmann? Who is working for whom? Whom to trust? Who is conspiring with whom against whom for what purpose?

One of Dr.Septhmann's clients is Rozental, a jewish chess master, who is on the verge of a breakdown days before the Championship. Will Dr.Septhmann save the genius from breakdown and keep him sane for the game?

I don't know much about Chess, only the basic moves and about Russian history I know a bit more than I know about Chess. Considering these aspects the story did not baffle me or loose my interest. I was interested in not only what was happening to Dr. Septhmann and the game of Russian politics but also the game of chess Dr. Septhmann plays with his friend throughout the book with position of the pieces and their moves illustrated in notations and diagrams. I do think one of the notations does not match the diagram.

This is not just a book about conspiracies and spying, it also is an interesting story of romantic love and paternal love. There are numerous plot twists and the surprises keep coming. Intriguing thriller set in interesting times.

While I borrowed the book from a library, this book was published as a serial in Observer and is available online on the Newspapers website. 

The Red Road by Denise Mina

The Red Road starts with Rose Wilson, a young girl of fourteen living in a care home in Glasgow, killing two people the night that Diana died and she is apprehended by police. The lawyer who represents her gives her hope, while she will not escape a short stint in the prison, at least she has found somebody whom she can trust and love. As a girl who has seen a lots of abuse, Rose Wilson knows that there will definitely be a payment for the rescue. What the payment will be is something Rose Wilson learns over years. From a loner with nobody to care and love, the rescue gives her a loving family, with a father-figure, and his son who loves and trusts like a sister, she finds a loving sister in the son's wife, and works as a loved Nanny for their children. But she also has a secret life and her past comes back to haunt her.

DI Alex Morrow, is baffled by fingerprints of a prisoner found in a recent crime scene. The prisoner Roger Brown had definitely been in custody and how is it possible that his fingerprints are found in a crime scene. Did he have somebody plant it? If yes, why? Is it some elaborate ploy to discredit the evidence? This is something Alex has to find. The other track that runs is about illegal international money transfers that at one end help charities to rebuild disaster torn areas, and at the other end fuels arms acquisitions and drugs.

What makes this story interesting is the narration that moves between past and present and slowly the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle fall into place. The story is not an easy read and is very disturbing as it deals with the abuse of the young girl. The story of the chick and broken egg is not something I would forget in years and so is the image of the 'nutter woman' cleaning her hands again and again with antiseptic gel. There are somethings no amount of antiseptic gel would cleanse, what kind of world do we live where eggs are broken before the chicks are ready to step into the world. 

While this is a gritty tale it also a tale of hope, love and justice. Hope that all is not lost and a man's unselfish love who would even sacrifice his own life so that his loved one would get justice. While this is about misplaced loyalties and trust, and it is also about what loyalty to a person who gave one new life would prompt one to do. While it is a tale of those who abuse power, it also a tale of those who would fight for justice at all costs. 

Red Mandarin Dress by Qiu Xiaolong

When a young woman dressed in red mandarin dress is found murdered in a busy traffic place in Shanghai, Inspector Chen should not only investigate the woman but also research about the red Mandarin dress as he believes that the dress is the clue to the murder. Red Mandarin Dress had been a symbol of elegance before the Cultural Revolution, during the cultural revolution it became the symbol of something to be despised, and disappeared from fashion, later it became fashionable again. But the Mandarin Dress of modern day is more sexy than the elegant one rich women wore before the revolution. The woman found murdered was not wearing a Mandarin Dress that could be bought off the shelf from a shop but one that was made to order in a rather older style. Inspector Chen needs to find the mystery of this Red Mandarin Dress soon because one more woman dressed in Red Mandarin Dress is murdered. The serial killer stalking Shanghai is killing women and dressing them in a modest Red Mandarin Dress but exposing them immodestly creating contradictions. Why is the killer doing that? Does Freud's theory apply to China?

Fortunately Inspector Chen is also working on his literature paper and decides to look into romantic stories in Chinese literature. And he comes up with his own theory backed by Chinese literature on the contradictions created by the killer.

In 'When Red is Black', the earlier novel I read in this series, Qui Xiaolong feature the Singing girls, one of the three accompanying girls. This novels takes us to gourmet restaurants with the 'eating girls'. Girls who escort rich men to restaurant help them choose exquisite menus and provide them with intelligent and enjoyable conversation and company and may be something more later. We get an inside view from a senior escort, on why she became an eating girl.

Like in the earlier novel the author takes us again into the Cultural Revolution and its aftermath and also the changing dynamics of China moving from Communism to Capitalism and issues of corruption.

It is also interesting how Inspector Chen, his partner Yu, and even Yu's wife contribute to the investigation. But spotting the killer as soon as he is introduced is rather frustrating. After all it is touted as a mystery and when the culprit is so obvious it takes the joy out of reading a mystery. Even though the mystery part was disappointing, I did enjoy the book, the author has created a complex story to incorporate the history of China and various aspects like culture, literature, fashion, the changing economics, poetry, gourmet food, so-called delicacies that could be down right cruel and philosophy as touted by Confucius. Bringing all this together in an engaging style is no easy deed, wish the mystery was breathtaking too.

Below is a quote to give you an idea of the imagery the writer creates.

One brought in a laptop and started playing a game, her fingers pecking and chirping like noisy sparrows on a spring morning.


***

The cover shows a girl wearing a red mandarin dress, but it is not clear, so doesn't serve the purpose.


This is my post for Crime Fiction Alphabet R.

Villain by Shuichi Yoshida

Yoshino, a young woman working for an insurance company, is found murdered in the Mitsuse Pass known to be haunted. On a Sunday night, Yoshino dined with her friends and walked to the Higashi Park to meet her online date Yuichi and did not return home. Yoshino had two friends who lived in the same block of apartments and work together in the insurance company, but she was secretive even to them. She lied to them she was meeting her date, a rich college student whom they had met a few weeks before. Yoshino story is revealed in bits by various people who know her, and the story and the image of Yoshino that emerges is very different. The author is probably trying to illustrate that we are many things to many people. To her parents she is a loving child, to her friend Mako she is somebody Mako could never be, to her other friend Sari she is somebody to be envious of, to the college student she is a cheap farm girl and so on. But what Yoshino is to others also reveal what kind of person the other is. Not only Yoshino but we also get to know Yuichi from others. What kind of person he is and his past is revealed in bits and pieces from the eyes of others. While we do get to know these two characters from others point of view I never got a real feel for what kind of person Yoshino is. The narration is mostly third person and only in the last few pages the narration shifts to first person with various people adding finishing pieces to the puzzle.

Every few pages a new character connected with Yoshino and Yuichi is introduced. With every new character a new aspect of Yoshino and Yuichi is revealed. While initially it looks like layer upon layer of their personality is peeled, and the real person is going to be revealed, we do learn that the real person is a composite and what others know about us is just a little bit.

The story starts with description of the Mitsuse Pass where Yoshino was found murdered. The description runs for two pages, I am not sure whether I was fascinated or irritated. While it did give a feel that the author is taking us on a drive on the road showing us things, I couldn't help feeling 'ok, nice road. Now please tell the story!' The kind of feeling when people describe what we feel unnecessary things in detail while narrating a story, and we prompt them, 'yes, yes, then what happened'. I mention this because there are many places in the story I felt annoyed by too much detail. The narrative is very matter of fact, and it feels up to a point that the judgements are all made by the individual characters not by the author.

It also reveals the strange place that Japan is between its tradition and modern values. While Yoshino has met people via online dating, she tells about it only to one of her friends and requests her to keep it a secret from the other friend. While online dating seems to be prevalent, the girls involved are looked down upon. It reveals a slice of life where love hotels, massage parlours, online dating are prevalent but something that shouldn't be talked about or only to be whispered. The killer is evident from the very beginning, there is no surprise. But the question the author asks is who is the villain? Is it the killer, the killed, the circumstances, the mother of the killer, the college student, or the society, the values, hypocrisy or something else?

The story reminded me of the Tamil and Hindi movies with the anti-hero as the main lead. The kind of guy who usually suffers a childhood trauma and forced by circumstances, that push him over the edge, he commits a crime, but is a man good at heart, who could always be redeemed by the right woman. But by the time he meets the right woman the deed is already done, and bad deeds never go unpunished. After all there is a need to maintain balance. It reminded me of the protagonist in Baazigar (Hindi movie) played by Shahrukh Khan, Sevvupurojakkal (Tamil) played by Kamal Hassan and Kadal Kondein (Tamil) played by Dhanush to name a few. This is a largely popular plot that had been played over and over again in Indian movies. Having said this movies are usually simplistic, and you don't get the composite of characters that you would get in a novel, more so in this book. More than the mystery of a crime novel I rate this book as an intriguing mystery of the complexity of human beings. Or am I reading too much into it?

Translated from the Japanese into English by Philip Gabriel.

Headhunters by Jo Nesbo

Roger Brown is one of the best headhunters in Norway, at least prides himself as one. One who is responsible for the appointing of CEOs of big organisations in Norway. Roger Brown leads a very expensive lifestyle, he owns a state-of the art gallery near the city centre, a posh modern dwelling. How does he manage all that? Not with his income as a headhunter. Roger Brown is also an art thief. To supplement his income, he steals paintings from his clients. Roger is arrogant and too full of himself. He uses the FBI interrogation method to interview and assess a person's suitability for a high profile job. He has a reputation that the candidates he has recommended has never been turned down for a job. Roger is also the kind of guy we all love to hate. The cocky guy we want to see fail and fall down, the kind of guy we wish his methods are used on himself and then we want to see if he would be so self-assured and confident or would he fall crumbling down.

And then Roger meets more than his match. There are some interesting situations like this proverb in Tamil, a language spoken in Southern India, that goes "Thirudanunku thel kottunamadhiri" which roughly translates as "like when a thief is stung by a scorpion'. Roger is in a situation where he discovers something painful but he cannot talk about it. There are some really disgusting and macabre situations too like all other Nesbo novels I have read. The other books I read are 'Leopard', 'Phantom' and 'The Bat'. The twist in the end is predictable and this is the first book I read by Nesbo that the twist is so obvious. And the 'Why' is not so easy to buy into.

Considering the other tomes by Nesbo I read, all around or above 500 pages, this book is less than 400 pages is a fast read with numerous plot twists. No Harry Hole here!

Translated from Norwegian into English by Don Bartlett.

XO by Jeffery Deaver

I am doing the A to Z Reading Challenge and Crime Fiction Alphabet this year, and there aren't really many choices for a book that starts with X, let alone a Crime book. Last year I read XPD, though I never got around reviewing it. So this year it is XO.

Kayleigh Towne, a country pop-star, is plagued by a stalker, Edwin Sharp, a guy who had taken the XO in her email seriously, and becomes her shadow like her song "Your Shadow". When people associated with her start dying, Special Agent Kathryn Dance, a friend of Kayleigh Townie, who is also an expert in kinesics, starts looking for the killer. Is the stalker the killer? The killer is using one of Kayleigh's songs as a reference for his killings.

The story started off as a decent thriller. Either the stalker is the killer or he is not. And at one point Kathryn Dance catches the killer and the case is closed. It happens all of a sudden without any build-up. That was the point when I went 'What?!'. This is not even halfway through the book, we know that there is more to come, but from that point I was glued to the book and more such jaw-dropping twists follow. I do love the twists and turns and surprises even if there are too many coincidences.

I wonder if the kinesics, analysis of body-language thing, is bit of an inside joke. Kathryn Dance for all her kinesics is not only able to judge if the stalker is telling the truth, but misses other signals too. She is not much of a judge in her own personal life too. The reason being that while in professional life she uses kinesics all the time, in her personal life she switches it off. Can you switch off something you are so attuned to?

Kayleigh Towne is a singer songwriter, so the author does not just give a glimpse into one or two of her songs, not just the song the killer is using to kill, but writes the lyrics for the whole lot of songs in context of her life. The songs give a glimpse to the kind of girl Kayleigh is, what is important to her and what is not and what she is. Music plays a major role in this book also because the protagonists is a singer-songwriter, Special Agent Kathryn Dance not just hunts killers but also constantly on the lookout for unknown folk singers and hosts a website where some of her new finds are featured. Lincoln Rhyme who I believe is one of Deaver's regulars makes a brief appearance giving some interesting insight into forensics.

This is the first book by Jeffery Deaver I read, and I do look forward to read his other books if the twists and turns keep coming. Musical thriller with plenty of twists and turns! Oh! Never sign your email with XO, you never know who is going to literally interpret it and start stalking you!

Q is for Queenpin by Megan Abbott

This is my post for Crime Fiction Alphabet Q.

We all know the story of the guy with easy morals who gets seduced into crime by the femme fatale finally leading to his ruin. This is the story of the girl who is already taking small steps in the world of organised crime who seduced by a charmer plans a heist that could only go wrong. Queenpin is a short engrossing novel that tells the story of a young woman who gets entwined in the world of smuggling, gambling, casinos in the 1960s and who emerges as the leader in the game as the Queenpin. Here is my review of the book.