The Cruelest Month (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #3)

Author – Louise Penny
Genre – Detective, Mystery, 
Source - Kindle
Rating - 5
Read - February 2016

And this is what we have been waiting for. Perfect. 

Previous Armand Gamache mysteries:
Still Life ;
A Fatal Grace .

From Doon With Death (Chief Inspector Wexford #1)

Author – Ruth Rendell

Genre – Detective, Crime, fiction

Source - Kindle

Rating - 4

Read - December 2015

Some of you would know that I am doing a series with a newspaper on detective fiction. I am glad, therefore, that I am getting to revisit writers that I am fond of, or read ones that I had not earlier. Ruth Rendell was a master of the detective fiction genre, and I am familiar with her work, as I am with Chief Inspector Wexford, the main protagonist of many of her books. This, the first in the series, I had not read earlier. 
And I am glad to have done so now. An expert police procedural, this is a must-read for fans of the sub-genre. I am fond of these village-green police procedurals as I call them - they have in them both the comfort of the cozies, and the rootedness of the hardboiled (although little of the grit and the grime). This is excellent - solid plot, crisp storytelling, no pretension or unnecessary flourish, precise character development, a main protagonist you can root for, and a finish that's gentle but not without surprises. 
Dated? Well, it does indeed read like it was written in 1964 (its year of publication). But that does not hamper the story at all. Has aged quite well.

Will review in greater detail sometime in the future.

Still Life (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #1)

Author – Louise Penny

Genre – Detective, Police Procedural, Mystery, Village Mystery

Source - Audiobook

Rating - 4

Read - October 2015

This is my first Louise Penny, and the first of the Armand Gamache series. It's an excellent book, comparable with (and in some ways similar to) Val McDermid. But while I read McDermid after the best of Flynn and Higashino, I read this after (excellent) non-fiction. And loved it more. Armand Gamache is just what a superb fictional detective should be, but often isn't. He is more a Byomkesh than a Holmes. More a Miss Marple than a Poirot. He is not quirky, but is sage and calm. and dignified. And a detective does not have to be quirky to be compelling. Gamache is proof. Superb insight into Francophone Quebec too. Complaint? The ending would read better than it sounds, I think. Good, satisfactory, but I have read better.

A Place Of Execution

Author : Val McDermid

Genre: Thriller, Mystery, Detection

Source - Audiobook

Rating - 4

April 14

The problem with reading two detective novels that are absolute all-time greats by masters of their games (namely 'The devotion of Suspect X' by Keigo Higashino and 'Gone Girl' by Gillian Flynn), is that a perfectly good, rather well-written detective novel such as this, would still leave you with a feeling of 'that's all?' after you are done with it. This is a fine example of a detective/police-procedural novel, really. Finished it in one go, and wasn't disappointed really. Just felt that it's not ... ah... how do you put it .... not in the league of the other two. Not saying that this one is bad, not at all. .... in fact, I would gladly read other stories by McDermid. Just cognitive bias, I guess.
 A high 3, this one. Almost 4. So, round off to 4.

The City and The City

Author - China Miéville

Genre - Science Fiction, Detective, Society, Cops

Source - Audiobook

Rating - 5

April 2013

I am lucky in that I have read quite a few extraordinary books this year. This is certainly one of them. A masterpiece of the genre. Miéville is the superstar of the genre, and I was intrigued to find out why. Now I know. His acclaim is well deserved - This is top notch social commentary, a breakneck, hurtling detective story, and the best sci-fi novel I have read in a long, long time. Please read. Highly recommended.