David Hewson

Violent gangs roaming city streets looking for trouble, murder, illicit love, poisoning, suicide, and what amounts to the sale of a human being, these are the crime elements of thriller writer David Hewson’s latest reimagining of one of Shakespeare’s works. I’m not talking about one of the Bard’s tales of the murder of kings or caesars, but a story more often thought of as the pinnacle of romance, Romeo and Juliet.
Hewson’s is a wonderfully readable and entertaining recasting of a show more story that itself was reconceived several times before Shakespeare took his turn with it. According to an author’s note, the fundamental story appeared in a volume published in 1476, which a Venetian writer adapted in 1531, with a subsequent version in 1562 that was translated into French, then into a poem in English, which was the version Shakespeare used in creating the play, published in 1597.
In the spirit of a story that has repeatedly evolved to fit its time, Hewson has changed some things. Most notable is the ending, which may give purists fits, but the author says, “that’s what adaptation entails.” Juliet comes first in the title, because, with Hewson’s shifted emphasis, it’s her story. She’s a self-actualized, practical young woman, while Romeo is a dreamer, a little fuzzy around the edges. She knows what she wants and it is definitely not the forced marriage to the older Count Paris that her father has in mind. “So that’s the role Count Paris will perform,” Juliet challenges her father. “Not so much my husband as your proxy son. I marry him because it’s good for business.”
In addition to immersing himself in Shakespeare’s plays, Hewson comes to this project with a solid understanding of Italian culture, reflected in the contemporary crime stories he sets in Italy. The book is a full novel rework of an award-winning audio project he did with Richard Armitage, who narrated Hewson's exciting version of Hamlet.Clearing out the underbrush of Elizabethan-era language and putting more modern words in the characters’ mouths creates a refreshing experience. Hewson’s brilliant adaptations Macbeth: A Novel and Hamlet, Prince of Denmark: A Novel, written in collaboration with Shakespeare scholar A.J. Hartley, prepared Hewson to penetrate to the core of Shakespeare’s characters and situations, bringing new insights to the familiar. Read and enjoy! show less

Arnold Clover has retired from his UK job as an archivist and moved to Venice, something that he and his wife had planned to do before her untimely death. Soon after moving there, he encounters some people from his past, a glittering group from his time at Cambridge who are still together 40 years later, apparently bound to their leader, historian-turned-TV-star Marmaduke Godolphin. He in turn is on the hunt for a sensational historical coup that will re-establish his preeminence everywhere show more - until his sudden death. Arnold is recruited by Carabinieri Capitano Valentina Fabbri to help her solve the case, but she only has 24 hours before the case is taken away from her if she fails to do so…. This is the first of a new series set in Venice and featuring Arnold, Valentina and a Venetian historian and archivist named Luca; it is much more gentle that Mr. Hewson’s Nic Costa series set in Rome, but it includes a great deal of knowledge about the Italian world, from food to behaviours to attitudes toward strangers; our trio of lead characters are entirely delightful and the mystery to be solved is extremely intriguing and complicated. I liked this book very, very much and look forward to reading much more of this world; highly recommended! show less

In spite of knowing that the series continues, I found my heart pounding in several places in this police procedural (ha - what a genre name), worrying about the protagonist. Nic Costa is wondering if he really wants to come back to police work, or crawl back into the bottle he's so painfully climbed out of. His new partner is flawed but experienced, and is keeping watch on him. Then a girl goes missing, some very odd pictures and rituals begin to surface, along with a body in a peat bog, show more and some nasty criminals are of course involved. I should have spotted the real culprits much sooner, but it was so intricate and fast-paced, I decided to give myself a break. Recommended to all fans of the genre, especially fans of the genre set in Rome. show less

Nordic noir!

A truly bleak story as tortured as the isolated area it describes. Hewson himself describes the book as, "gentle Scandi noir with a tough edge to it."
There is nothing "gentle" about this novel. It's pure, gritty Nordic noir and I loved it!
Bodies piles up, just as surely as the whale bodies do during the killing season, the "Grind" as its referred to. If you are repulsed by the garnishing of whales in what is portrayed as a traditional fisher folk activity, now rigorously governed show more by official regulations, then this is not the story for you. If you can move past that to seeing this as a descriptor that brings to light the harshness of this remote village life where these folk are living out the cycle of their cultural traditions, where the poverty of many of their lives becomes a background for the events that ensue, then this is a mystery for you. The folk from this community are legally entitled to hunt and trap 'blackfish' and this is a central tenet to the mystery.
Into this closed community comes a retired policeman and his wife, innocently looking for the country life. Sheriff Tristan Haraldsen and his wife Elsebeth have moved to the remote Island of Vágar, part of the Faroe archipelago of Denmark. It's the Sheriff's job to ensure that during the "grind" all goes according to the regulations. However his part does not go quite to plan. As Tristan becomes more immersed in the life, he comes to understand his naivety about his job, this village and how as an outsider he doesn't fit in. What he and Elsebeth get is more akin to gothic horror movie.
Two boys go missing. That is on top of another missing person, and the previous death of a boat captain's son. Put down to the harsh surroundings. But was it?
Then there's the policewoman with her own agenda.
Some matters are solved, if not in the normal way.
Is there redemption in this tale? I'm still left wondering. But I do know that the more I think about this story, the more I find to examine and wonder about. The various characters, how they interrelate to their community, how some take advantage of others weaknesses, destroying the supportive nature that the village has been for each other for generations over against outsiders.
There are depths here to be further explored!

A Severn ARC via NetGalley show less