A Rule Against Murder (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #4)

Author – Louise Penny
Genre – Detective, Mystery, 
Source - Kindle
Rating - 4
Read - February 2016

As you would have figured, I am binge-reading Louise Penny's Three Pines series. 
About this one - I liked it. Liked it a lot. Very detailed insights into the characters - and one gets to see a lot more of Reine-Marie, who and Gamache are perhaps one of the nicest couples in literature. You cannot help but contrast Gamache and Reine-Marie with the other couples in the book, including the one we have already got to know very well.
Very observant portrait of a dysfunctional family. The writer understands. And is a very, very good writer. Some of the family feud scenes are bloody excellent!

So, 4/5? Why not 5? Well, the murder, and the murderer, are a bit meh. That's why. You'd have figured out by now that the murder is perhaps NOT THE MOST important part of the series. But that's all right by me.

Previously:
Still Life ;
A Fatal Grace ;
The Cruelest Month .

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.

Antarghaat (eng. The Enemy Within)

অন্তর্ঘাত

Author – Bani Basu

Genre – Naxalite movement, Mystery, Thriller

Source - eBook

Rating - 4

Read - November 2015

Very interesting book, this. If you take it solely as a murder mystery novel, it is somewhat predictable, albeit with the deftness, fluency, and that mix of readability and literary merit which is a preserve of only the best of writers (as I often insist, middlebrow literature in India is only found in regional literature). As a social commentary of the future of many Naxalites of Kolkata after the '70s, it in honest, bold and brutal, but perhaps lacks some answers, and more importantly, some questions. 
But as a book, standalone, it is excellent! 

Do note, I really, really rate Bani Basu as a writer, her Gaandharvi, for example, remains one of my favorite short novels. Interesting to note that this was written in 1987, and is one of her earliest works.

PS: I hear that there's a decent translation available - details of the translation here.

Career Of Evil (Cormoran Strike #3)

Author – Robert Galbraith (J K Rowling)

Genre – Detective, Mystery, Thriller

Source - Audiobook

Rating - 4

Read - November 2015

So... interesting book, this. Very deeply researched, and it shows. Perhaps the most bloody and disturbing of all Cormoran Strike stories, and the violence does not seem out of place, there is a serial killer on the loose. So then, why do I reserve judgment? 
Look, there are a lot of good things in this book. First, Robin is excellent! This is the first strike book where Strike is not the lead protagonist, Robin is. And Robin is an excellent protagonist. Better, at a stretch, than Cormoran. Second, about the relationships. This is a seven-book series, and the narrative is held together by the chemistry between Strike and Robin, and this book is where JKR is pushing the envelop a little bit on the relationship front. Very interesting to see what happens. Perhaps she would want to rectify the Harry-Hermione mistake, as she calls it? We shall see. But let's say that this book has a better Robin, and in most parts a better Cormoran than the two previous ones. Third. the detection, the plot. Does it hold up? Is it innovative enough? Simple answer, yes. 
Then what doesn't work here? The ensemble. One of JKR's best traits has been creating excellent ensemble characters - something that's completely absent in this book. None of the other characters stay on in the reader's mind after the end. Even the serial killer seems like a prop. 
You do remember that both Cuckoo and Silkworm had excellent ensembles. As of course did Harry Potter, and Casual Vacancy was an ensemble piece anyway.
And so there you go. The first-ever less-than-perfect rating for a JKR book by a fanboy. 4/5.

My reviews of previous Robert Galbraith books:
The Silkworm;
The Cuckoo's Calling;

My review of other JKR Books:
The Casual Vacancy;

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.

100 Best Mystery Novels - The Mystery Writers' Association (MWA) 1995

Okay, here's another list to target.The Mystery Writers' Association (MWA)'s 1995 list of best mystery novels.

1.   Arthur Conan Doyle: The Complete Sherlock Holmes (1887-1927)

2.   Dashiell Hammett: The Maltese Falcon (1930)

3.   Edgar Allan Poe: Tales of Mystery & Imagination (1852)

4.   Josephine Tey: The Daughter of Time (1951)

5.   Scott Turow: Presumed Innocent (1987)

6.   John le Carré: The Spy Who Came In From the Cold (1963)

7.   Wilkie Collins: The Moonstone (1868)

8.   Raymond Chandler: The Big Sleep (1939)

9.   Daphne du Maurier: Rebecca (1938)

10. Agatha Christie: And Then There Were None (1939)

11. Robert Traver: Anatomy of a Murder (1958)

12. Agatha Christie: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926)

13. Raymond Chandler: The Long Goodbye (1953)

14. James M. Cain: The Postman Always Rings Twice (1934)

15. Mario Puzo: The Godfather (1969)

16. Thomas Harris: The Silence of the Lambs (1988)

17. Eric Ambler: A Coffin for Dimitrios (1939)

18. Dorothy L. Sayers: Gaudy Night (1935)

19. Agatha Christie: The Witness for the Prosecution (1948)

20. Frederick Forsyth: The Day of the Jackal (1971)

21. Raymond Chandler: Farewell My Lovely (1940)

22. John Buchan: The Thirty-Nine Steps (1915)

23. Umberto Eco: The Name of the Rose (1980)

24. Fyodor Dostoyevsky: Crime and Punishment (1866)

25. Ken Follett: Eye of the Needle (1978)

26. John Mortimer: Rumpole of the Bailey (1978)

27. Thomas Harris: Red Dragon (1981)

28. Dorothy L. Sayers: The Nine Tailors (1934)

29. Gregory Mcdonald: Fletch (1974)

30. John Le Carré: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (1974)

31. Dashiell Hammett: The Thin Man (1934)

32. Wilkie Collins: The Woman in White (1860)

33. E. C. Bentley: Trent's Last Case (1913)

34. James M. Cain: Double Indemnity (1943)

35. Martin Cruz Smith: Gorky Park (1981)

36. Dorothy L. Sayers: Strong Poison (1930)

37. Tony Hillerman: Dance Hall of the Dead (1973)

38. Donald E. Westlake: The Hot Rock (1970)

39. Dashiell Hammett: Red Harvest (1929)

40. Mary Roberts Rinehart: The Circular Staircase (1908)

41. Agatha Christie: Murder on the Orient Express (1934)

42. John Grisham: The Firm (1991)

43. Len Deighton: The IPCRESS File (1962)

44. Vera Caspary: Laura (1942)

45. Mickey Spillane: I, the Jury (1947)

46. Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö: The Laughing Policeman (1968)

47. Donald E. Westlake: Bank Shot (1972)

48. Graham Greene: The Third Man (1950)

49. Jim Thompson: The Killer Inside Me (1952)

50. Mary Higgins Clark: Where Are the Children? (1975)

51. Sue Grafton: "A" is for Alibi (1982)

52. Lawrence Sanders: The First Deadly Sin (1973)

53. Tony Hillerman: A Thief of Time (1989)

54. Truman Capote: In Cold Blood (1966)

55. Geoffrey Household: Rogue Male (1939)

56. Dorothy L. Sayers: Murder Must Advertise (1933)

57. G. K. Chesterton: The Innocence of Father Brown (1911)

58. John le Carré: Smiley's People (1979)

59. Raymond Chandler: The Lady in the Lake (1943)

60. Harper Lee: To Kill a Mockingbird (1960)

61. Graham Greene: Our Man in Havana (1958)

62. Charles Dickens: The Mystery of Edwin Drood (1870)

63. Peter Lovesey: Wobble to Death (1970)

64. W. Somerset Maugham: Ashenden (1928)

65. Nicholas Meyer: The Seven Per-Cent Solution (1974)

66. Rex Stout: The Doorbell Rang (1965)

67. Elmore Leonard: Stick (1983)

68. John le Carré: The Little Drummer Girl (1983)

69. Graham Greene: Brighton Rock (1938)

70. Bram Stoker: Dracula (1897)

71. Patricia Highsmith: The Talented Mr. Ripley (1955)

72. Edmund Crispin: The Moving Toyshop (1946)

73. John Grisham: A Time to Kill (1989)

74. Hillary Waugh: Last Seen Wearing ... (1952)

75. W. R. Burnett: Little Caesar (1929)

76. George V. Higgins: The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1972)

77. Dorothy L. Sayers: Clouds of Witness (1927)

78. Ian Fleming: From Russia, with Love (1957)

79. Margaret Millar: Beast in View (1955)

80. Michael Gilbert: Smallbone Deceased (1950)

81. Josephine Tey: The Franchise Affair (1948)

82. Elizabeth Peters: Crocodile on the Sandbank (1975)

83. P. D. James: Shroud for a Nightingale (1971)

84. Tom Clancy: The Hunt for Red October (1984)

85. Ross Thomas: Chinaman's Chance (1978)

86. Joseph Conrad: The Secret Agent (1907)

87. John D. MacDonald: The Dreadful Lemon Sky (1975)

88. Dashiell Hammett: The Glass Key (1931)

89. Ruth Rendell: A Judgement in Stone (1977)

90. Josephine Tey: Brat Farrar (1950)

91. Ross Macdonald: The Chill (1963)

92. Walter Mosley: Devil in a Blue Dress (1990)

93. Joseph Wambaugh: The Choirboys (1975)

94. Donald E. Westlake: God Save the Mark (1967)

95. Craig Rice: Home Sweet Homicide (1944)

96. John Dickson Carr: The Three Coffins (1935)

97. Richard Condon: Prizzi's Honor (1982)

98. James McClure: The Steam Pig (1974)

99. Jack Finney: Time and Again (1970)

100.  Ellis Peters: A Morbid Taste for Bones (1977) and Ira Levin: Rosemary's Baby (1967) (tie)