To The Last Page

Proof that If Nobody Speaks Of Remarkable Things  was no one-off (how could writing that good possibly be a fluke), So Many Ways to Begin  again deals with ordinary people leading ordinary lives, but bearing the weight of events in the past that deeply mark their lives. The style is again fractured in time, non-linear, but through its analogy of a museum of mementos, it slowly and simply builds up a solid, authentic and deeply moving exhibit of family-life in post-war Britain. For David, a young man in Coventry who has always dreamed of being a museum curator, a structured life where everything can be organised, labelled and its provenance traced, the discovery that he has been adopted as a child upsets the stable view he once had of the world. The author contrasts David’s relationship with loving parents who aren’t his own with his wife Eleanor’s strict upbringing in Aberdeen, and charts the emotional journey both of them have to make together to understand who they are and h...

Special Assignments consists of two shorter stories where Akunin’s detective Court Counsellor Erast Fandorin is called upon to solve two very different cases that threaten to cause grave embarrassment to the Russian Royal Court of the late nineteenth century. The novella format suits the stories, rounding out the background of the special investigator, his personal life and acquaintances and expanding on his abilities, while still leaving the author room for some flashes of humour, literary referencing and light philosophising. Showing some variety in style and content, the two detective stories however are minor pieces, neither of them particularly fresh or original in the genre. The Jack of Spades is an entertaining adventure of a cat-and-mouse chase between Fandorin and a clever conman and master of disguise who is not only making fools of the general public in Moscow, he has even taken in some prominent government officials with his schemes, leaving behind his calling card and ca...

Thorne is back and so is Billingham – both back on form and continuing the upswing shown in Buried after the rather grim and downbeat The Burning Girl . Detective Inspector Tom Thorne still does some incredibly stupid things for a police officer of his rank in Death Message , having to strike a difficult balance between his personal life and the investigation of a series of brutal murders – but since a killer has involved him personally this time, he doesn’t have much choice. When he starts receiving personal text and video messages from a serial killer who is targeting a Biker gang and a couple of bent coppers, Thorne attempts to establish contact with the murderer outside of the course of the investigation. It’s a big risk, not only compromising the integrity of the investigation, but with the police authorities very interested in the case, he risks drawing unwelcome attention from his superiors. More than that, his decisions could put people close to him at grave personal risk. Tho...