Last Night in Montreal (2009) was Mandel’s first book.

Great writer.  I’m now reading all her books after having quite enjoyed two others:

• The Glass Hotel (2020)
• Station Eleven (2014)

Montreal, like those other two, employ a time-jumping narrative.  Mandel does that well.

Montreal is weirdly compelling.

The life story of young woman who was kidnapped by her father at a young age.  All she knows is leaving.  Staying on the move.

When Lilia was a child, her father appeared on the doorstep of her mother’s house and took her away.

Now, haunted by an inability to remember much about her early childhood, Lilia moves restlessly from city to city, abandoning lovers and eluding the private detective who has dedicated a career to following close behind.

Then comes Eli. When Lilia goes out for a paper and fails to return to their Brooklyn apartment, he follows her to Montreal, not knowing whether he wants to disappear, too, or help her find her way home. But what he discovers is a deeper mystery …

Actually, I was even more interested in the story of the second major character, Michaela. A student and circus acrobat often abandoned by her parents.

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This is a sequel to Camino Island (2017), which I loved.

This one is almost as good.

“In American icon John Grisham’s new novel, Camino Winds, an odd assortment of mystery and crime authors, some of them felons themselves, discover one of their colleagues has been murdered during the fury of a massive hurricane—the perfect crime scene.

Since officials are preoccupied with the aftermath of the storm, the authors set out to solve the mystery themselves, in the type of wild but smart caper that Grisham’s readers love.”

Many consider this one of Koryta’s best.

Read it.

This book builds like a summer storm. Beautiful to watch until it shakes the house and knocks out the lights, leaving you alone in the dark. Another masterful work from Michael Koryta, SO COLD THE RIVER is guaranteed to put the cold finger down your spine.

Rather Be the Devil (2016) is the 21st instalment in the Inspector Rebus series of crime novels.

I recall thinking that Exit Music (2007) was intended to be the Rebus exit.  Seemed Siobhan Clarke would be the successor.

In this book — as good as any of the previous —  ‘Big Ger’ Cafferty makes a comeback.

It’s almost believable how Rankin put together a plot to have Fox and Clarke and Rebus working together again.  Even though Rebus is sick and has to often run home to take care of his mutt.

It’s difficult for Rankin to permanently retire Rebus. They’re both from Cardenden, both live in the south side, both love vinyl, both drink in the Oxford Bar.

Big Ger Cafferty was living in Rankin’s current residence in Merchiston.

To write Rankin isolates himself in a remote peninsula called Black Isle.  No TV.  No phone network. 

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Arlen Wagner can tell when people face imminent death.  He’s a is a World War I veteran trying to get by during the Great Depression by working for one of the government coservation projects.

He’s traveling with 19-year-old Paul Brickhill, an interesting character.

They get unexpectedly stranded at the Cypress House–an isolated Gulf Coast boarding house run by the beautiful Rebecca Cady–directly in the path of an approaching hurricane.

I wouldn’t say this is Koryta’s best.  And it’s quite different.

Still, I enjoyed it. Koryta is one of the best writers working today.

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