Mysteries around the world

Books. That's what I am talking about here. I love mysteries and have recently read (actually it was on tape) a book set in Japan. Here's what the book jacket says about it.

"A man about to leave his marriage is poisoned to death while his wife, the logical suspect, is hundreds of miles away. Tokyo Police Detective Kusanagi and his assistant agree to disagree about the guilty party: was it his wife, his girlfriend, his business associate, or a random crime? They call on physics professor Manubu Yukawa, and even the brilliant mind of "Detective Galileo" is challenged by a crime that is implausible, methodical - and perfect."

It takes some thought to remember the names of the characters but I must say, I did enjoy it. The main reason? The wife in the story is a Patchwork artist/professional who also has an assistant/student. It's too bad we can't see what sorts of works the wife has made but there is a bit of description all the same. Although it is mostly set in Tokyo, we don't really get a feel for the city. I do like the main police officers (one of whom is a woman) and their physics professor friend.

Title: Salvation of a Saint

Author: Keigo Higashino

Published by: St. Martin's Minotaur, 2012     

The other book I'm listening to is set in Ireland. I haven't finished it yet but it sounds like it will be a good one. This too is set in the country's capital - Dublin, but not in today's Dublin. The book starts off in 1985 and then, 22 years later, something happens to bring back the main character, Frank Mackay, to his old neighbourhood. He is now a cop and it seems that nothing has really changed with his family in all that time.

Here's the blurb:
"Back in 1985, Frank Mackey was nineteen, living in a small flat with his family on Faithful Place in Dublin's inner city. He and Rosie Daly planned to run away to London, get married, and break away from poverty and their old lives. But the night they were leaving, Rosie didn't show. Frank assumed that she dumped him and never went home again. Neither did Rosie. Now, twenty-two years, later Rosie's suitcase shows up in a derelict house on Faithful Place."

Title: Faithful Place

Author: Tana French

Published by: Thorndike/Windsor/Paragon, 2010

Lastly, there is a book on hold that I will have to go and pick up. It is one in a series.  The setting is Kent, England in the early 1900s and the main character is Maisie Dobbs who is a private investigator. It's not the author's first Maisie Dobbs book but it will not hinder the reading and enjoyment of the book if you don't start at the first one.

Here's a bit about it:

"With the country in the grip of economic malaise, and worried about her business, Maisie Dobbs is relieved to accept an apparently straightforward assignment from an old friend to investigate certain matters concerning a potential land purchase. Her inquiries take her to a picturesque village in Kent during the hop-picking season, but beneath its pastoral surface she finds evidence that something is amiss. Mysterious fires erupt in the village with alarming regularity, and a series of pettycrimes suggests a darker criminal element at work. As Maisie discovers, the villagers are bitterly prejudiced against outsiders who flock to Kent at harvest time--even more troubling, they seem possessed by the legacy of a wartime Zeppelin raid. Maisie grows increasingly suspicious of a peculiar secrecy that shrouds the village, and ultimately she must draw on all her finely honed skills of detection to solve one of her most intriguing cases."

Title: An Incomplete Revenge

Author: Jacqueline Winspear

Published by: H. Holt, 2008

And now, something that has nothing whatsoever to do with books.

 It's a latch hook rug kit that I picked up at Value Village. That's op shop to you Aussies. It's not a big one - finishing at just 8 inches square but I thought it needed a home. I haven't done one in ages and all that's missing is the hook. It was a brand new kit all wrapped in plastic so I don't know why they didn't provide the hook. Maybe that's why the owner gave it up. That's fine by me since I own two hooks so I can work on this while watching TV during the evenings.

Note: Thank you to all of you who voted for my quilt.