Though not as good as Nile, I do have a lot of respect for the 3rd film. It feels true to the Agatha Christie formula.
Film students should study the cinematography and audio.
Branagh portrays the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. An ego trip.
Tina Fey is Ariadne Oliver, Poirot’s friend and a crime novelist (something like Christie).
Having lost faith in God and humanity, Detective Hercule Poirot lives in retirement in post-war Venice, employing ex-police officer Vitale Portfoglio as a bodyguard.
On Halloween, novelist Ariadne Oliver convinces Poirot to attend a séance at the palazzo of opera singer Rowena Drake and help expose medium Joyce Reynolds as a fraud. …
Gathering the other guests together, Poirot exposes _______ as the murderer. …
Venice, 1943: Stella Jilani is leading a double life, working as a typist in the 3rd Reich Office, but smuggling out information for the Italian Resistance and using her old typewriter to produce an underground newspaper.
Her life becomes even more complicated when she crosses paths with two very different men – the cultured, enigmatic Cristian De Luca, her immediate superior at work, and friendly Jack (Giovanni), an injured British-Italian parachutist, who needs her help. …
A second story line is set 2017 — Stella’s granddaughter stumbles on an old typewriter and a box of mementoes. Determined to connect with her Venetian heritage, she begins an obsessive quest to find out what happened to her grandmother following WW II.
Not a bad book. But not great.
It was interesting to learn how the Italian underground operated under dictator Mussolini and the NAZIs.
I tried a super popular local restaurant near a train station. AMERICAN portions.
Tastiest of all — however — was a small portion of lasagna I had with Les and Tam at a random tourist restaurant in Venice. I couldn’t recall better.
Bologna
Outside Italy, the phrase “Bolognese sauce” is often used to refer to a tomato-based sauce to which minced meat has been added. As kids in Canada we ate spaghetti and meatballs — thinking it a kind of spaghetti bolognese.
The 2nd book in the Swedish series featuring Detective Inspector Joona Linna.
Police discover the lifeless body of a young woman on an abandoned yacht.
The next day, a man is found hanging in his apartment.
When Detectives Joona Linna and Saga Bauer uncover a surprising connection between the two deaths, they will be forced to confront a relentless killer who’s always one step ahead and a ruthless business tycoon who preys on his victims’ worst nightmares to achieve his sinister ends.
I do feel she’s better than either the original — Stieg Larsson — or books 4,5, and 6 David Lagercrantz … BUT this book suffers from many of the same flaws as the first six.
Firstly, not enough Salander. That’s why I’m here. WHY does she appear so late in this book?
Why does she not do more hacking?
David Denby of The New Yorker stated that the character of Lisbeth Salander clearly accounts for a large part of the novels’ success.[17]
Deirdre Donahue of USA Today referred to Salander as “one of the most startling, engaging and sometimes perplexing heroines in recent memory.”[18]
The New York Times‘s David Kamp called her “one of the most original characters in a thriller to come along in a while.”[19]
Likewise, Muriel Dobbin from The Washington Times dubbed her one of the most fascinating characters to emerge in crime fiction in years; “Her remoteness and her capacity for anger and violence are in contrast with a desperate vulnerability that she reveals only to the most unlikely of people.”[20]
By coincidence, both Salander and Mikael Blomkvist end up in Sweden’s far north.
Neither is doing well at the start of the book.
Blomkvist for his daughter’s wedding. Salander hiding her 13-year-old niece Svala, whose mother has disappeared. Incredibly, Lisbeth accepts the role of guardian.
One of the few upsides of this story is that Svala is something of a child genius. She could be the next Salander.
Blomkvist’s beloved magazine Millennium has had to go digital: podcast, vlog. Disgusted, he takes a break from the job.
“Greenwashing”, and the damage caused by ostensibly green companies, is a major theme.
I’ll keep reading. But Smirnoff could have done much better with this material.
“Set in 1922, Edgar finalist Massey’s second whodunit featuring Bombay attorney Perveen Mistry is even better than the series’ impressive debut… The winning, self-sufficient Perveen should be able to sustain a long series.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Massey does a superb job of combining a fascinating snapshot into 1920s British-ruled India with a top-notch mystery. She has created a strong, appealing heroine who is forging her own path in a rapidly changing world… Highly recommended for fans of other intrepid women sleuths such as Elizabeth Peters’s Amelia Peabody and Tasha Alexander’s Lady Emily.” —Library Journal (starred review)
India, 1921. It’s rainy season in the lush, remote Sahyadri mountains, where the princely state of Satapur is tucked away. A curse of deaths has fallen on Satapur’s line of maharajas. The state is now ruled by an agent of the British raj on behalf of Satapur’s two maharanis. The royal ladies are disputing the education of the young prince, and a lawyer’s counsel is required. Enter Perveen Mistry. She is determined to bring peace to the place and make a sound recommendation for the young prince’s future. Yet when she arrives she finds the palace is full of cold-blooded power plays and ancient vendettas. Too late, she realizes she’s walked into a trap…
… Detective Superintendent at the Swedish police’s National Operations Department …
The Hypnotist is book #1. (2009)
This couple are recently the best-selling authors – Swedish or international – in Sweden, across all categories.
I do like the Detective Inspector Joona Linna.
Personally I found this book a bit slow. There is some repetition that could have been avoided.
GET AN EDITOR is what I’m saying.
I have those same complaints with many of the Nordic Noir books—also called Scandinavian crime fiction. It was true of the Dragon Tattoo books. True of Hypnotist.
I’m not a big fan of short stories ➙ BUT this is Deaver, so well worth reading anyway.
“A Textbook Case,” a Lincoln Rhyme story: When a young woman is found brutally murdered in a parking garage, with a veritable mountain of potential evidence to sift through, it may be the most challenging case former NYPD detective Lincoln Rhyme has ever taken on.
“Fast,” a Kathryn Dance story: Kathryn Dance is in a race against the clock to track down the members of a domestic terrorist cell-and the lives of 200 people hang in the balance.
“Game”: After Sarah Lieberman’s new tenants murder her in an attempt to steal her money, Sarah’s housekeeper Carmel is determined to find Sarah’s body so she can lay her soul to rest. But Carmel may discover that the truth is uncomfortably close to home …
“Paradice,” a John Pellam story: When a brake failure leaves him temporarily stranded in a Colorado mountain town, John Pellam finds himself suddenly accused of murder.
Not at all my favourite of the Slough House books.
Still, the humour and banter of Jackson Lamb alone makes it worth reading.
Roderick Ho is entertaining, as well.
One of the regulars is kidnapped. And it all goes wrong after that. 😀
This is the Mick Herron’s third novel in the Slough House series. …
In addition to the inhabitants of Slough House, the main characters are Dame Ingrid Tearney, the head of the service, and Diana – ‘Lady Di’ – Taverner, who wants to be head of the service. The two women clearly loathe each other – a fact that Herron conveys superbly by having them behave towards each other with a studied politeness.
There is somebody else who wants to run the intelligence service – Peter Judd, the Home Secretary, within whose department the intelligence service is included. He wants to control it as part of his career plan to become Prime Minister. There is a deliberate similarity to the popular side of Boris Johnson in his portrayal. …
