Flu, fly, flum…

Delirious? Not quite – but decidedly unwell all of last week.

A short report of what I read (as you won´t want to hear what else I was doing)

 

June Whyte, Chasing Can Be Murder (2010)

Australian debut, amateur detective. For some reason (the cover, perhaps?) I assumed this one was a cosy, but they´d probably not condone the bedroom scenes.

Kat McKinley, the protagonist, is a female greyhound trainer. Many good aspects, but you´ll have to swallow the (rather common) assumption that cops are so incompetent it is much safer to solve your murders yourself. With the help of a handful of quite interesting friends. Besides, an intelligent person runs off in the middle of the night upon that suspicious phone call. No points for that one.

Unfortunately pdf-format. Yet I am ready to give this series a second chance.

 

Betty Webb, Desert Wives (2003)

American private sleuth, Lena Jones. Second in the series (but I didn´t think about it not being the first).

This mystery deals with the theme of polygamous marriages, and it is set on the border between Utah and Arizona. Recommended, especially because Webb has created a proper mystery which tells readers like me quite a lot I didn´t know about modern-day polygamous sects without getting preachy.

After the novel she provides a short section with relevant information about these sects.

 

Inger Wolf, Sort Sommer (2006)

A solid, Danish police procedural. I finally pulled myself together to try this author. Yes, I´ll read more of them.

 

Beth Mathison, A Mobster´s Guide to Cranberry Sauce.

A fairly silly cosy mystery, if you ask me, and I didn´t realize I had bought a short story until I had nearly finished it.

 

Ransom Riggs, Miss Peregrine´s Home for Peculiar Children (2011)

American, fantasy – with all the important elements. Mysterious island, interesting characters, time travels. Four stars despite the rather abrupt ending, but I assume the author intends to write more volumes.

I bought all these e-books myself.