Better the devil you know?
Well lady luck smiles on you today, friends!
As we’re in ‘spooky season’ – Hello October! – I’ve read and reviewed 3 devilish books from my shelves, that may inspire you to dance with the devil in the pale moonlight … or just ponder him from the comfort of your sofa with a cup of sweet tea.
Richard Osman will have you solving a devilish crime with a gaggle of pensioners; John Darnielle will sing you a tricksy song of true-crime in a fictional ballad; and Glen Duncan may disappoint slightly, but we can all still appreciate the effort. Sorry, Glen.
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Happy Reading, Friends!
“The fourth book in the record-breaking Thursday Murder Club series from British national treasure Richard Osman.
Shocking news reaches the Thursday Murder Club.
An old friend in the antiques business has been killed, and a dangerous package he was protecting has gone missing.
As the gang springs into action they encounter art forgers, online fraudsters and drug dealers, as well as heartache close to home.
With the body count rising, the package still missing and trouble firmly on their tail, has their luck finally run out? And who will be the last devil to die?”
"... There comes a point when you look at your photograph albums more often than you watch the news. When you opt out of time, and let it carry on doing its thing while you get on with yours. You simply stop dancing to the beat of the drum." (p319)
I love this series. Richard Osman does such a good job of creating an engaging story around a cast of bumbling, warm, astute and companionable characters – while exploring the loneliness and grief that comes with old age.
I giggled at the antics of Joyce’s dog Alan, and the introduction of ‘Computer Bob’ (he knows about computers), and got a bit teary as we said goodbye to one character and learned a bit more about another. Mostly, I enjoyed spending some more time at Coopers Chase.
If you appreciate a cosy mystery series and haven’t checked out Osman’s ‘Thursday Murder Club’ yet – you’re doing yourself a disservice.
Readers who like this book may also like:
“Gage Chandler is descended from kings. That’s what his mother always told him. Years later, he is a true crime writer, with one grisly success – and a movie adaptation – to his name, along with a series of subsequent less notable efforts. But now he is being offered the chance for his big break: to move into the house where a pair of briefly notorious murders occurred, apparently the work of disaffected teens during the Satanic Panic of the 1980s. Chandler finds himself in Milpitas, California, a small town whose name rings a bell – his closest childhood friend lived there, once upon a time. He begins his research with diligence and enthusiasm, but soon the story leads him into a puzzle he never expected – back into his own work and what it means, back to the very core of what he does and who he is.
Devil House is John Darnielle’s most ambitious work yet, a book that blurs the line between fact and fiction, that combines daring formal experimentation with a spellbinding tale of crime, writing, memory, and artistic obsession.”
I’m writing this review, having just finished ‘Devil House’. I feel like I’ve been given a puzzle to solve that I’m not quite clever enough to untangle.
I enjoyed reading this book, and peeking behind the curtain of the true crime genre – even if it’s a fictional account. I generally prefer reading supernatural horror, over tales of tragedies impacting real people.
This was a twisty story, weaving between two of Chandler’s crime novels – one published, and one in progress. The telling felt choppy at times, but as the story progressed I feel this may have been intentional, to give us an insight into the obsessive mindset of the writer. But who knows, I’m still trying to figure out what I just read.
I’ll definitely pick up more of Darnielle’s work in the future – and am already a fan of his band the Mountain Goats.
Think I’ll be pondering on this one for a while …
Readers who like this book may also like:
“A brilliantly written portrait of Lucifer encountering the world of the senses, telling his version of the Bible, and discovering what it’s like to be human – in Clerkenwell. The Prince of Darkness has been given one last chance: he will be readmitted to the company of his fellow angels if he agrees to live out a human life. Highly sceptical (naturally), the Old Deal-maker negotiates a trial period – a summer holiday in a human body, with all the delights of the flesh. The body, though, turns out to be that of Declan Gunn, a depressed writer living in Clerkenwell, interrupted mid-suicide. Making the best of a bad situation, Luce himself takes to writing – to explain, to strip back the Biblical spin, to help us see the whole thing from his point of view. And to knock that Jesus off his perch.
Beset by distractions, miscalculations and all the natural shocks that flesh is heir to, Lucifer slowly begins to learn what it’s like to be us.”
I wanted to like this, and some of Duncan’s phrasing and word play is clever – I just didn’t really care about the story or like anyone in it. I know not all characters need to be likeable, however I need to feel some sort of understanding or connection to warrant a time or emotional investment.
I enjoyed the parts where Lucifer was retelling the biblical events from his point of view (and when he refers to JC as Jiminy Christmas). The extended scenes of him in human form just being gross, seemed drawn-out and crass for the sake of it though. I get that Lucifer isn’t a charmer, however there were a lot of lost opportunities to take this idea down a path that would have given it wings.
Give this one a miss.
Something more up my street:
