Ameise1 (Barbara)'s 50+ in 2017

I'm back again and I'm looking forward to a new fantastic reading year.

2011: 51 books
2012: 77 books
2013: 74 books
2014: 75 books
2015: 88 books
2016: 76 books




January
# 1 the Cold Six Thousand by James Ellroy 2017 ROOT Challenge (4½ stars)
# 2 The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead (5 stars)
# 3 The Collected Short Stories of Elizabeth Bowen by Elizabeth Bowen (4½ stars)
# 4 Geraubte Liebe by Dacia Maraini (4½ stars)
# 5 Fragrant Harbour by John Lanchester (4½ stars)
# 6 North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell (4 stars)
# 7 The Winter Vault by Anne Michaels (3½ stars)

February
# 8 The Hare with Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal (5 stars)
# 9 Kiss Kiss by Roald Dahl (4 stars)
#10 Dogs at the Perimeter by Madeleine Thien (4 stars)
#11 Last Night at the Lobster by Stewart O'Nan (4 stars)
#12 I Shall Wear Midnight by Terry Pratchett (3½ stars)
#13 Place de l'Étoile by Patrick Modiano (4½ stars)
#14 I Will Have Vengeance by Maurizio de Giovanni 2017 ROOT Challenge (4½ stars)
#15 The Spy Who Came In From The Cold by John Le Carré (4 stars)
#16 The Reluctant Hero by Michael Dobbs 2017 ROOT Challenge (4 stars)
#17 The Sacred Cut by David Hewson 2017 ROOT Challenge (4½ stars)
#18 Miss Buncle's Book by D. E. Stevenson (4 stars)
#19 Julia by Otto de Kat (4 stars)

March
#20 The Devil's Cave by Martin Walker (4½ stars)
#21 Dr. Jekill and Mr. Hide by Robert Louis Stevenson (4 stars)
#22 Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys (4½ stars)
#23 Benegas by Francisco José Jurado (4 stars)
#24 Töte deinen Nächsten by Michael Herzig (½ stars)
#25 Every Day Is For the Thief by Teju Cole (5 stars)
#26 Mord unterm Nordlicht (3½ stars)
#27 Beyond Reach by Graham Hurley 2017 ROOT Challenge (4 stars)

April
#28 Oil On Water by Helon Habila (4 stars)
#29 The Ocean At The End Of The Lane by Neil Gaiman (4 stars)
#30 The Marseille Caper by Peter Mayle (4½ stars)
#31 Red Mandarin Dress by Qiu Xiaolong 2017 ROOT Challenge (4½ stars)
#32 Whisky für drei alte Damen by Minna Lindgren (4 stars)
#33 The Secret Chord by Geraldine Brooks (4½ stars)
#34 Rom, Rom by Pier Paolo Pasolini (4½ stars)
#35 A Room Full Of Bones by Elly Griffiths (4½ stars)
#36 Nutshell by Ian MacEwan (3½ stars)
#37 Friday the Rabbi Slept Late by Harrry Kemelman (4½ stars)
#38 Saturday the Rabbi Went Hungry by Harry Kemelman (4½ stars)
#39 The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald (4 stars)

May
#40 A Trick of the Light by Louise Penny 2017 ROOT Challenge (4½ stars)
#41 Lewis Man by Peter May (4½ stars)
#42 Murder On Brittany Shores by Jean-Luc Bannalec (4 stars)
#43 The Literature Express by Lasha Bugadze (3 stars)
#44 State of Wonder by Ann Patchett (4½ stars)
#45 The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith (4 stars)
#46 Sunday the Rabbi Stayed Home by Harry Kemelman (4 stars)
#47 The Sea Detective by Mark Douglas-Home (4 stars)
#48 The Disappeared by M. R. Hall (4½ stars)
#49 In The Woods by Tana French (4 stars)

June
#50 The Assault by Harry Mulisch (5 stars)
#51 Dark Harbour by David Hosp 2017 ROOT Challenge (4½ stars)
#52 Requiem by Arne Dahl (4 stars)
#53 36 Yalta Boulevard by Olen Steinhauer 2017 ROOT Challenge (4½ stars)
#54 Mystery by Jonathan Kellerman 2017 ROOT Challenge (3½ stars)

July
#55 The Lizard's Bite by David Hewson 2017 ROOT Challenge (4 stars)
#56 Schlaflose Nacht by Margriet de Moor (4½ stars)
#57 Die Herrin der Kathedrale by Claudia & Nadja Beinert (4 stars)
#58 Hotel Alpha by Mark Watson (3½ stars)
#59 Sizilianische Rache by Ann Baiano (4 stars)
#60 The Invisible Guardian by Dolores Redondo (5 stars)
#61 The Legacy of the Bones by Dolores Redondo (5 stars)
#62 Breaking Silence by Linda Castillo (4 stars)
#63 Madame le Commissaire und die späte Rache by Pierre Martin (3½ stars)

August
#64 A Chemical Prison by Barbara Nadel (4½ stars)
#65 The Columbus Affair by Steve Berry (4 stars)
#66 Gute Zeiten für schlechte Menschen by Roberta de Falco (4 stars)
#67 The Heist by Daniel Silva (4½ stars)
#68 The House of Dolls by David Hewson (4½ stars)
#69 Monday the Rabbi Took Off by Harry Kemelman (4 stars)
#70 The Winter Rose by Jennifer Donnelly (4 stars)

September
#71 Night Blind by Ragnar Jónasson (4½ stars)
#72 Prince of Fire by Daniel Silva (4½ stars)
#73 The Devil's Workshop by Alex Grecian (4 stars)
#74 Offering to the Storm by Dolores Redondo (5 stars)
#75 The Cold, Cold Ground by Adrian McKinty (4½ stars)
#76 Exit West by Mohsin Hamid (4½ stars)
#77 Das Vermächtnis der Runen by Michael Peinkofer (4 stars)
#78 Siegen heißt, den Tag überleben: Nahaufnahmen aus Syrien by Petra Ramsauer (5 stars)
#79 I Hear the Sirens in the Street by Adrian McKinty (4½ stars)
#80 Ask the Parrot by Richard Stark (3½ stars)

October
#81 The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid (4 stars)
#82 The Gods of Gotham by Lyndsay Faye (4½ stars)
#83 Seven For A Secret Lyndsay Faye (4½ stars)
#84 The Fatal Flame by Lyndsay Faye (4½ stars)
#85 In The Morning I'll Be Gone by Adrian McKinty (4½ stars)
#86 Dying Fall by Elly Griffiths (4½ stars)
#87 Temporary Perfections by Gianfranco Carofiglio (4 stars)

November
#88 After The Storm by Linda Castillo (4½ stars)
#89 Todesengel by Andreas Eschbach (4 stars)
#90 A Walk In The Dark by Gianrico Carofiglio (4 stars)

December
#91 Gone Missing by Linda Castillo (4 stars)
#92 Buddhaland Brooklyn by Richard C. Morais (4 stars)
#93 Bretonisches Gold by Jean-Luc Bannalec (4 stars)
#94 Shatter the Bones by Stuart MacBride (4 stars)
*95 The Wine of Angels by Phil Rickman (4½ stars)
#96 Gun Street Girl by Adrian McKinty (4½ stars)

Happy reading in 2017!

>2 rocketjk: Thanks so much, Jerry.

Congrats on making your goal every year. Best of luck in 2017! :)

>4 saras.library: Thanks so much. :-)

Thanks so much, Kim. :-)

book 1

 The Cold Six Thousand
2017 ROOT challenge

This is the second book of Underworld USA . It begins with the turmoil in Dallas after JFK's assassination and ends with the assassination of RFK. Ellroy shows relentlessly the corruption within the regims up to the highest places, the mafiose participations of different groups, Vietnam with all the dark machinations and acting with heroin as well as the rise and fall of Martin Luther King. Money and envy rule the world. Many of the protagonists from the first book of this trilogy have their fingers in the book. I will probably meet some of them in the third volume while others are dead.
Ellroy has a very special writing style. Sometimes it is like a telegram to read, then again as fluid as a thriller. In any case, it is very exciting and entertaining.

book 2


 The Underground Railroad

This book is definitv a must read. The different stations, which Cora lived through are described very lively. It starts with the description of her birthplace on a cotton plantation. The first shows how her grandmother as a slave came from Africa to America. Afterwards, Cora grew up, how the life and the anxiety were on the plantage. She gets to know Caesar and the first ride with the underground train begins. She gets to know different destinations, as well as different people, including those who help her, and others who are angry with her. She always returns to the underground train, which often leads her to a destination where she can catch a breath, but also to places where she experiences misfortune. Between the various chapters of the different destinations are chapters about people who were important to Cora.
While reading, I often felt I was part of the story. Sometimes it caused me stomach pain, then anger and then relief.

book 3 Read in German

 The Collected Short Stories Of Elizabeht Bowen
BAC January

This book, filled with short stories about women of different types and men who believe the women to understand but can not at all this, was a great reading.
The very different types of women, sometimes girlish, sometimes matrons, sometimes uncertain personalities and then strong character, are described in great detail with all their wishes, their thinking and their anger. The inadequacy of the men, who often made me smile, are presented in detail with every stereotype.
Bowens writing style is fascinating. She writes in such a detailed manner that her stories are perceived as a film. Of course, her figures mostly come from the better society, but this also has to do with the time in which they were written.

book 4 Read in German

 Geraubte Liebe

These are shocking short stories about mistreated women. Relentlessly, Maraini writes about various violent and sexual abuse to women in Italy. Even though this is written as fiction, it is unfortunately God's truths, which happen far too often in Europe, but also in all other parts of the world. There are grievances, which usually remain anonymous, people look away and the victims, psychically caught in their misery, can not resist.
Unfortunately, it also shows that these women are often not believed, especially when the offender is an 'important' personality or someone with money. Neither the police nor the courts are behind the victim. The investigations in these cases are often performed only superficially.
The story about the sexually abused children made me very sad and angry. I had great difficulty reading it to the end.
Maraini writes clearly and directly without something to gloss over.

A bit late but happy reading in 2017.

The Cold Six Thousand is a great book to start the year, it's one of my favourites. I agree with you about Ellroy's writing, it's so dense, he packs a lot into a sentence, and it's frequently rhythmic and alliterative. I imagine him machine-gunning words at the reader.

book 5 Read in German

 Fragrant Harbour

This book must be read. It is the story of four people who have to deal with Hong Kong at different times and who also have a relationship with each other. The story stretches over several decades. It begins in the early 30's and continues until today. The main character experiences the whole time. He travels to Hong Kong as a young man on the ship. On this crossing, he meets people who will accompany him all his life. In Hong Kong, he began to work at the Hotel Empire. He quickly learns the customs, the smear, the corruption and the political turnarounds between the colony and China, and what influence means. The time in this region during the WWII is very impressively described.
Even if this book is a fiction, it reflects the habits and life very realistically. I highly recommend this book.

book 6 ♫ Read in German

 North and South
BAC December

This is an interesting story even if the end was for my feeling a bit too sweet. Margaret Hale, moved with her parents from southern England to the north in an industrial city, because her father abandoned the parish and tried to teach in the North as a private teacher. Margaret, in spite of her great efforts to cope with the harsh climate of an industrial city, soon came to know different inhabitants who belonged to the working class. She also met the factory owner John Thorton, who was a student of her father, and his mother. Thorton quickly fell in love with Margaret while his mother was very repulsive. Margaret and Thorton discussed a strike. Margaret had a great deal of understanding for the working class and supported them. When Margaret's mother died and her brother secretly went home for the funeral home, then he was looked for as a mutineer, Thorton thought it was her lover. During the time that followed, everyone thought only the worst about the other.
This story is based on many misunderstandings and communication difficulties between Margaret and Thorton. At the very end, Margaret realized that behind the proud factory owner, there was a person who cares about his employees.

book 7 Read in German

 The Winter Vault
CAC January

I have very mixed feelings about this book and it was not so easy to read at times. On the one hand, the simple basis of this story is the resettlement of people - be it the Numbians in the construction of the dam lake, the people of St. Lawrence Seaway or the people who helped Warsaw build WWII. A topic that is worth thinking about. On the other hand, the story is based on the feelings of these people. These feelings are portrayed so detailed, that I often hurt when I read and I only had the desire that this would be easier to tell. Anne Michaels ' writing style seems to be inexhaustible. She can give an importance from an inconspicuous thing, with her opinion described in the last detail, which sometimes banned me as a reader to the brink of the impossible. Often I thought less is more. On the other hand, it was precisely this detail infidelity, which kept me reading, in the hope of learning more about the situations.

Plugging away here! Looks like a good January for you.

>16 Berly: Hi Kim, I need a place to find all my readings I've done quickly. Yep, I had a go8d January pace.

book 8 Read in German

 The Hare with Amber Eyes

This is a great family biography. The author takes a look at the story behind the netsuks of his uncle, discovering a lot about his family. On the one hand, it shows the joy of the arts which his family has been cultivating and gathering since the middle of the nineteenth century. On the other hand, it is also the great suffering of his Jewish origin.
The Paris part, which plays in the middle of the 19th century until the beginning of the 20th century, shows Charles' collection. He was a great patron who knew and promoted various Impressionist artists. He was also the one who bought the Netsuk collection. I am fascinated by the relationship between Charles and Rodin, Degas, etc. It is about pictures I have already seen, how they originated and which figures who represent whom. Also in the Viennese part is told about arts, the collection family of the family goes on, especially the books of his great-grandfather.
The ambivalent relationship between the countries and the Jews also plays a large part. On the one hand, they have always been used as money-makers and financiers for hundreds of years, and they were also highly esteemed on the other hand, they were the first to suffer when the nationalistic thinking of the nations tipped. This will be visible in the Paris part, but much more drastic in the Viennese part. What concerned me the most was not the expropriation itself, I have already read a lot about this, but rather not to return the stolen property or to receive it only at a ridicule price. With this kind of stolen property has not yet been made up to today pure table.
The Tokyo section tells how the netsuks came into being and what they mean. It is a culture that is alien to me but fascinates.

book 9 ♫

 Kiss Kiss
BAC October

This was a fantastic listening. There are ten short stories, each beginning very harmless and ending with something macabre each time. His writing style is great and British black humor comes with every story. As a listener, you wait curiously for the end, even if you can usually guess what will happen. The nape of the hairs begin to pose and it makes great pleasure when the solution comes.

book 10


CAC February

Janie recalls her childhood while she is looking for a good friend. It is the childhood at the end of the war in Cambodia as families were torn apart as brainwashing took place as one could only survive with an illusory spark to see his loved ones again. For those concerned it was about the naked survival, even if one for others has betrayed.
The language is strong and nevertheless the feelings are very sensitive. Even if it is a fiction, many people have experienced this and have great difficulties that this sad destiny does not hinder them in today's everyday life.

As a very young teacher, I had Cambodian refugee children in my class. They were enormously traumatized and for me it was not easy to find a good access to them, because I could not understand their experiences. My main task was to give them security. This book opened my eyes to the sad fate that they suffered.

book 11 Read in German

 Last Night at the Lobster
AAC February

Here the feelings and memory of Manny are told. He is the manager of the Lobster. It is the last day the restaurant is open. Some employees have a new job others are looking. Manny has hired his employees for various reasons. The harmony among themselves is not always the best and animosities escalate on this last day.
I liked the story. It is subtly written and easy to read.

book 12 ♫ Listen in German

 I Shall Wear Midnight
BAC February

It is not the kind of story I would first choose, so I needed a while to dive into the story. Nevertheless, it was an entertaining story and I can well imagine the eigious witches and fantasy fans coming to their bills. Tiffany had all hands to do, to defeat the evil and to unite the good. The story is funny, even if you can usually guess the next step in advance.

book 13 Read in German

 Place de l'Étoile

What a fulminant first work. Patrick Modiano is so speech-wielding. Raphaël Schlemilovitch is a kind of masquerader who wants to please everyone and wants to enjoy his own life, but in the end he fails and ends up in a mental hospital. The stories are jumping around in the historical time, one is before WWII, then during the war and then again after the war, but never in the correct order. Raphël slips into various roles, compares himself with well-known writers, imitates them and writes himself.

The blurb says:

A young man, Raphël Schlemilovitch, recounts his phantasmagoric autobiography, in various life drafts of a French Jew, before, in and after the WWII - kaleidoscope-like. Sometimes he is a "collaborative Jew" and a lover of Eva Braun, sometimes a 'field Jew' in the deep French province. He soon wants to become an 'Ecole-Normal Jew', soon emigrating with false papers. He is alternately 'snob-Jew', gigolo, pimp and will not miss the pursuit nevertheless. Until this hallucinating hero is at the end with Doctor Freud on the couch, who attests to him a concrete 'Jewish neurosis'.

It was a great reading, one which I can strongly recommend.

book 14

 I Will Have Vengeance
ROOT 2017

This is the first volume of the Commissario Ricciardi series. Since I have already read the third volume, some of the characters were known to me.
A famous tenor is found murdered in his wardrobe. Ricciardi has the talent to see the last moments of a dead, so it is important that he is always first at the scene alone. This gift not only gives him advantages, since he also sees the dead and their thoughts in everyday life at every corner and place. It seems that they never want to let go. Ricciardi meticulously solves this case together with his Brigadier Maione. He can not be disturbed by anything, even if Questore Garzo is constantly on his neck.
I like the figure of Commissario Ricciardi very much. He is a self-broker who likes to be alone and never give up. He has no friends but is terribly in love with Enrica, who lives vis à vis him. But he is too shy to reveal his feelings towards her.
I will definitvely read the remaining books of this series.

book 15 ♫ Listen in German

 The Spy Who Came In From The Cold
BAC March

This is a good spy story from the Cold War. As always, a person needs to be saved, one that can be sacrificed, and a marginal figure that is saved on the other hand, but it does not matter if they are eliminated. Only this time the 'love' to an insignificant character was more important to the spy than his own life.

book 16

 The Reluctant Hero
ROOT 2017

This is the third volume of the Harry Jones series. This time, Harry wants to help a friend who sits in a Central Asian republic in a feared prison. Harry smuggles into the country with the help of a parlementary delegation. Once there, he quickly realizes that his plan is more than difficult. They are guarded around the clock and officially denied to have an American citizen as a prisoner. Only with great difficulties and with the help of two parliamentarians and a local peace movement group did the project succeed. In doing so, he not only brings himself into danger but also his colleagues.
This is an exciting thriller.

book 17

 The Sacred Cut
ROOT 2017

This is the third book of the Nic Costa series. It is just before Christmas and Rome is surprised by a big snow storm. Nic, Gianni, Leo and Teresa fight on all fronts. On the one hand, the heads of the various secret services gather together. They have the feeling that with their dark machinations they can trick the four main proganists, on the other hand, a most sophisticated golf war veteran is on revenge. In the midst of all this happenings is a Kurdish teenager who hopes for a better future than in her country and an American who is confronted with the past of her father and at the same time fallen for Nic.
As always, it was an exciting reading.

book 18 ♫ Listen in German

 Miss Buncle's Book
BAC July

This was a very amusing reading. Miss Buncle, a rather gray mouse, writes a novel about the people in her village. The novel turns out to be humorous for some, and as annoyance for others as it reveals the most secret things one would rather not share with anyone. Nobody finds out who wrote the book, as Miss Buncle wrote under a pseudonym. The confusion is great and the secret John Smith is hunted. Also innocent people come to the crossfire.

book 19 Read in German

 Julia
Found that author on Cahrlotte's (charl08)'s thread.

This is a very sensitive story. Christiaan Dudok is old and decides to put an end to his life. In the few hours before his suicide he makes his life review. Most important to him is the time with Julia, when he was to learn a year of practice in Lübeck with a competitor company of his father, where he met Julia. But everything is different. Julia's brother is a theater-maker and a communist, so he and Julia are constantly on the run at the time of WWII. In the Kristallnacht Christiaan sees Juliet the last time. She urges him to go home to the Netherlands. There he has to take over the company of his father, who dies soon after Christiaan's return. Christaan ​​marries a woman in the Netherlands. He is never really happy with her because his thoughts are often with Julia. In his last hours Christiaan thinks back to his life without bitterness.
De Kats's writing style is pregnant and without embellishment. He lets the reader immerse himself in the thought-world of the protagonist and thus follow his life.

book 20 Read in German

 The Devil's Cave

Even the fifth case of the Bruno Chef de Police series did not disappoint. In addition to great food, which my mouth waters during the reading, the action was varied and exciting. This time, Bruno had to pursue the dark machinations of an aristocratic family. Money and greed were in the foreground and the villains did not hesitate to approach their goal. They brought the people from Bruno's beautiful village into disrepute and danger and even Bruno had to justify his actions again and again.

book 21 ♫ Listen in German

 Dr. Jekill and Mr. Hide
BAC July

This was an amusing listening. What first began as completely harmless showed itself with time as a transformation comedy of the first kind. I like how Stevenson leads the reader very slowly to the two protagonists, in order then to give an extra tension with a fulminate turn of the story.

book 22 Read in German

 Wide Sargasso Sea
BAC March

A great story about a young Kreolin, who lives in her dream world, so she can survive, because she lives all her life just against evil. She is growing up when slavery has been banned. She belongs nowhere, since she is neither a white nor a black one. She is a mixed-blood who is treated like a dog. Her mother was crazy by all these happenings and now everyone believes that this is happening to her too. She never gets a real chance. Only once did she feel safe, when she was at the monastery school.
I like how Rhys writes this story with great sensitivity. The narrative is in the form I times out of the view of the young girl, then again from the view of her husband. This style of writing makes the story so lively.

book 23  Read in German

 Benegas

This is Francisco José Jurado's first book. It is located in Cordoba and contains three criminal cases that Inspector Benegas and his team have to solve.
As a dedication, this is to be read in each case:

For Montalbano, for Carvalho, for Kurt Wallander.
For Camilleri, Henning Mankell and Manolo Vázques Montalbán.
If they are not the same. If they are not really the same.

Lost stories
In addition to the fact that in this case Inspector Benegas and his team are presented, it is about finding a dead man in the river. At first it seemed that this case can be solved very quickly, but there are enough mafia-like activities in Cordoba that could be connected with the dead. Soon, however, Benegas, with the help of an old historian and his wife, notes that this dead man has something to do with the dark Spanish chapter of the Civil War when children were taken away, taken to orphanages, and given a new identity.

Hell's throat
In this story, a professor is hanged in his office. Benegas doubts that it was suicide. When the phone rings in the bag of the dead man and the caller sends death threats, Benegas and his team begin the investigation. Soon they will lead the team to the luxury sex industry, internet pornography and money laundering. It takes a while, however, until all the loose ends give an overall picture.

black-and-white
In this short chapter the author writes how he is engaged as a ghostwriter and the stories of the inspector Benegas emerged. The son of a banker wants to succeed as a writer, but can not write himself. So the father decides that a ghostwriter writes the books for his son. For each story the author receives 9000 euros. He knows that he has sold his soul to the devil and wants to turn the story in the last book so that everyone knows that the son of the banker did not write the stories himself.

WHO KILLED FRANKIE JURADO?
In this case the revenge of the Ghostwiters will be described. The investigation and writing run parallel, so also Inspector Benegas and his team sometimes do not know what is reality and what is not. It is very exciting and subtly written and keeps you tied to the end.
Here is a small excerpt from the preface of the ghostwriter:

The only way to raise my voice against the powerful was to mix life and literature. So all the facts here are absolutely true. Perhaps only a part is true, and the others have taken place in my performance. It is, therefore, obvious that any resemblance to reality is pure coincidence. And any resemblance to fiction pure wickedness.

I must give the author, Francisco José Jurado, a great deal of praise for bringing all these cases, which are very amusing to read, to a whole.

book 24 Read in German

 Töte deinen Nächsten

This is the third volume of the Johanna di Napoli series. Somehow I left out the second book, but will still catch up.
Her nemesis Hügeli is in prison but this only brings Johanna anger, as she is accused of blocking him with locks and barriers with unfair methods. Therefore she is postponed and has to examine threatening letters against Germans. She would not have expected it to be the next adventurous and dangerous case. A German national visitor is shot. Johanna has informed her superiors that there is danger, but was not taken seriously. Now, with the help of her old colleague Köbi, she is trying to push the investigation, since she no longer trust anybody within the police.
A fast-paced crime novel from Zurich with many unexpected twists.

book 25 Read in German

 Every Day Is For the Thief
Author of Windham Campbell Prize

This story reads like a kind of diary. A young man from NY returns to Nigeria after years. He tells what he experiences during his three-week vacation. It is not only the encounters with relatives, acquaintances and former friends, who delight him and show on the other hand that he is no longer a part of this system, but also how his old homeland changed during his absence of more than fifteen years or has remained standing. What is most noticeable is the daily corruption. Several times a day you are asked to pay for nonsensical circumstances. It shows the life of the middle class, from which his family originates, as well as those who have to deal with the various everyday inconveniences. But there are the small joys of life. He is also thinking about the past, especially the slavery trade, which is not processed on either side (Nigeria and the USA). The young man is always thinking about whether he should return to Nigeria, but ultimately decides for his new home the USA.
This book is written with a lot of love for a home country, with all its fascination of happiness, joy, corruption and all the inconveniences.

book 26 Read in German

 Mord unterm Nordlicht

This book contains eighteen criminal short stories from Scandnavian female authors. The subtitle of the book also calls this "Great Scandinavian female authors - murderously good in form".
The stories always start quite harmlessly and often end in a killing situation. They are written witty, sometimes you can also guess how they go out. The authors play with the feelings of the normal person in normal everyday situations, which are usually solved better in real life than with death. For this, one can feel as a reader in the situation of the protagonists.
The following authors wrote:
Anne B. Ragde, Toril Brekke, Ditte Birkemose, Kim Smage, Marianne Peltomaa, Maj Sjöwall, Guri Hagen, Anna Grue, Sólrún Michelsen, Gretelise Holm, Johanna Sinisalo, Leena Lehtolainen, Unni Lindell, Marit Nerem, Kjersti Scheen, Birgitta Stenberg, Helena von Zweigbergk and Jorun Thorring

book 27

 Beyond Reach
ROOT 2017

This was another good episode from the DI Joe Faraday series. The story takes place in Portsmouth and its surrounding area. Faraday has to rewind cold cases and try to solve them. Soon he realizes that a recent murder is linked to one of these old cases. The deeper he digs the more connections he can draw between the cold falls. In part, he is happy about it, but in part, he also has conscience whether he does the right thing. Of course, his nemesis the drug baron Bazza Mackenzie and the ex-cop Paul Winter also play an important role again.
I love how Graham Hurley can write an exciting thriller by bringing together different loose ends into a whole.

As I began to read in the middle of this series (7, 9, 10), I decided to buy the first books of this series by and by.

book 28 Read in German

 Oil On Water
BB from Beth (BLBera)

A very interesting fictional story, if one filters it on the real background Nigeria's oil industry. Habila tells the story of an abducted Englishwoman who is the wife of an oil manager. Two Nigerian reporters are acting as intermediaries in search of her and the abductors. But soon it becomes clear that the abduction is only the hanger of this story. Rather, it is about the people who are driven out by the oil majors with false promises. Whole villages sell their land to these companies, shortly after the drilling begins, the fish die in the water because the quality of the pipes is miserable. Thus the food of the population is withdrawn and they have to look for a new place. However, this is becoming more and more difficult since the contamination spreads with the expansion of the drilling sites. In addition, rebels are at work, who want to fight the oil industry on the one hand, in order to help the population, on the other hand partly no longer know why they are fighting.
This story is very profound and gives much thought. I highly recommend this book.

book 29 ♫ Read in German

 The Ocean at the End of the Lane
BAC December

This story is like a fairy tale, where everything is possible and the impossible is non-existent. It is easily told. In between, I like these types of stories, but it is a kind I do not want to read regularly.

book 30 German

 The Marseille Caper

Again an amusing crime thriller from the Sam Levitt caper series. It plays again in Marseille. This time he has to represent the financier Francis 'Sissou' Reboul, who wants to win in an architectural competition, but does not want to appear in person. Sam travels to Marseille with his girlfriend Elena. There he is soon entangled in various intrigues. He receives help from his friend the journalist Phillipe and his friend Mimi.
It was a very amusing reading and besides the criminal background the book is filled with excellent food and drink.

book 31

 Red Mandarin Dress
ROOT 2017

This is the fifth volume of the Inspector Chen series. As so often, I started in the middle of a series. A couple of years ago, I've already read volume six. It will probably be time to read the next time band one.
The story takes place in Shanghai. Chief Inspector Chen devotes himself to the time of Chinese literature and leaves his crew in charge, but without him, it does not go. As with the last book I read, I learned a lot about Chinese history before, during and after the revolution. Prostitution is forbidden, but under the cover of a kind of escort service everything is possible for paying guests. Weekly, murdered women are found wearing a traditional red mandarin dress. For Shanghai the first serial killer case. While Chen's team is determined in all directions, Chen is more likely to hit the right track by chance.
Of course the tradition of Chinese food is of great importance. Great dishes are served according to old tradition, which we would not eat in part.
I like this kind of crime in a foreign culture.

book 32 Read in German

 Whisky für drei alte Damen

This was a very amusing reading, even if certain aspects of the story are rather gloomy. It starts in a retirement home that is completely renovated. Residents must continue to pay the full amount of the rent, even if the water and the electricity are turned off, in the canteen no more meals are prepared, the walls are broken and the workers begin the noise at six o'clock in the morning.
Thereupon, five residents (four women and one man - all over the age of ninety years) temporarily set up an elderly flat share. What they all experienced was amusing. They found an apartment, which used to be a pleasure house. They had to deal with the changing people of the nursing service. They were talking about euthanasia, because the husband of a woman with dementia was on a nursing home. They had to cook themselves again and met two Nigerians in the market hall, who encouraged them to get acquainted with foreign dishes and recipes. They learned that the male roommate is a crook. He is involved in drug addicts, theft and fraud. He also owns the redevelopment company of the retirement home and the women now realized why the renovations were not going forward.

book 33

 The Secret Chord
BB from Mark

What a great story. King David has already been written a great deal, and much is known about him. Brooks is now packing his life in the form of memoirs of his seer Natan. It shows the life of David from the perspective of his mother, brothers, women, nephews and sons. Everyone puts a jigsaw puzzle to the whole. Depending on whoever thinks about David, he sees him as a great man without fault and blame, or his weaknesses, which have often led him and his family into misfortune.
The story is written with love. It captivated me from the beginning.

book 34 Read in German

 Rom, Rom

Eloquently Pasolini describes the lives of the poorest of Rome during the 50-ies. He showed relentlessly the most intimate, the greatest fears, the daily struggle of survival outside the tourist streams. He gives these people, especially the teenagers, a voice so that the feelings come across genuinely. Pasolini describes everything in such detail that one has the feeling of being a part of it, yes, in the middle of it. It is a life that nobody wants and yet is everyday.
There are short stories from Trastevere and Testaccio. I highly recommend this book.

book 35 Read in German

 A Room Full Of Bones

As always, I was not disappointed by the Ruth Galloway's series. This time, old finds played only a subordinate role. Rather, the devil lay with the living. On the other hand, we learned more about the different relationships of the principal characters, which have finally reassembled.
Exciting it was from the first moment to the last and I look forward to the next band.

book 36 ♫ Read in German

 Nutshell by Ian MacEwan
BAC September

This is rather an unusual crime that does not convince me completely. What is funny is that the whole story is told from the point of view of an unborn child. The lives of the adults as well as the crime itself are rather simple and do not grip so much and convince not.

book 37 Read in German

 Friday the Rabbi Slept Late
Author BB from Paul Stalder

This is the first book of the Rabbi Small series. I love this kind of cozy mystery, it is exactly to my taste and therefore I will continue with this series.
In this story, one will meet Rabbi Small. He is a young rabbi who is interested in the study and interpretation of the Talmud. The Jewish community has yet to get used to it. However, he gains their respect because he can settle disputes with the interpretations as well as save communal members from the prison.
He also has detective tendencies, which he can use fully as the handbag of a murdered woman is found in his car. He supports the chief of police Hugh Lanigan with his reflections, but also makes his own research.
The book is amusing for reading and captivating from the beginning.

book 38 Read in German

 Saturday the Rabbi Went Hungry

This is the second book of the Rabbi Small series. It is the beginning of Yom Kippur as a murder happened. A non-practicing Jew is found dead. What first looks like a suicide turns out to be a murder with time. Rabbi Small has all hands full. On the one hand, he has to keep members of his church from being considered as murderers. On the other hand, there are disputes between the community board and his responsibilities. Some members want to turn things so that they can profit economically. Once again, Rabbi Small assists the chief of police Hugh Lanigan in his investigations and, last but not least, he becomes a father for the first time.
It was again an amusing reading. The protagonists have already grown to my heart.

book 39 Read in German

 The Bookshop

This is a sad story. Florence Green opened a bookstore in the faith of her village and her a favour to do. Unfortunately this was not the case. From the first moment on, they were just putting stones in the way. She was exploited and departed. She only got support from Mr. Bundish, but in the end this did not help either. She had to admit defeat and leave.
I like how Fitzgerald can draw such a strong picture in a few words.

book 40

 A Trick of the Light
CAC May

This is the seventh volume of the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache Series, but for me the first book that I've read from this series. It is captivating and I will read this series from the beginning.
This book is about envy and misery within the art scene. A woman is found dead. She herself was an artist and critic. With her second profession, she has already led many artists into psychological and financial ruin. This is why a large number of people are considered murderers. Gamache and his team are approaching this case meticulously and with great emotion.

book 41 ♫ Read in German

 Lewis Man

Fin Macleod is back on Isle of Lewis when he learned of the bog body. While he renovated his house, his old girlfriend asked him for help, as her demented father Tormed Macdonald was thrown more or less out of the house and now lives in a nursing home. Fin finds out through the conversations and inquiries who Tormed Macdonald is in reality and what connects him with the bog body. An ancient murder is solved.
This is the second volume of the Lewis Trilogy series. It was gripping and exciting from the first to the last page.

book 42 ♫ Read in German

 Murder On Brittany Shores

Commissaire Dupin arrives this time on the Glénan Islands. Important people no longer returned from a boat trip. Three bodies are found and Dupin and his team have to find out what happened. Since on the islands the mobile network does not work optimally, Dupin and his people are often not reachable, which is right for him on the one hand, his boss is on his neck for rapid results on the other hand, they can not always communicate among themselves. A storm forces Dupin and his team to stay on the islands and are thus completely separated from the mainland. This, however, gives him the time to go to the bottom of the assassinations, and he also resolves a ten-year-old unresolved murder.
This is the second volume from the Commissaire Dupin series. It was a gripping amusing reading.

book 43 Read in German

 The Literature Express

Tbilis
The story begins in Georgia. Zaza receives an invitation to Literature Express, where he will travel by train through Europe for a month with 99 other writers. While he receives the invitation Tbilis is bombed by the Russians and he separates from his longtime friend Elene.

The plane
In an amusing way Zaza writes about the check-in, the fears of passport controls in foreign countries, the flight of his colleague (Meipariani) and what another passenger thinks about them.

Lisbon
Upon arrival, they meet some of the fellow travelers. They are first brought together by region, but in the case of the Georgians, Russians, Armenians and Chechens, this leads to a rather explosive mixture, since Putin has his fingers everywhere and war is the order of the day. The German organizer hopes however that they spend a peaceful time with each other. Zaza meets Helena for the first time.

The train
Zaza writes how he fell in love with Helen. He notes that the Georgian language is not differentiated enough to describe feelings precisely. It is either dull and simple or rough. There is no in between. The train itself is a shock to him. Suddenly he sees the many writers. When the train starts, all paper, notebook or laptop come out and they begin to write, only he and his colleague do not. Their 'personal' guide does not leave a good hair on Georgian literature. He always curses them.

Madrid
All the authors had to speak out something from their works, and only in their native language. The conclusion was that no one understood the other and therefore could not appreciate it. This event resembled the Tower of Babel and the frustration was great.

Under Maciek
As he drags Maciek into his room, he muses about a brief affair. He remembers, in particular, that the age difference between an early twentieth girl and him late twentieths in particular can be fatal. The sms massages are misunderstood and it requires an enormous adaptation in writing to the younger woman.

Paris
If the Eiffel Tower or the visit to the cemetery of Père Lachaise weren't mentioned, then one would have no idea that the authors are in Paris. The focus is mainly present in the description of the Georgian, character with all their anxieties, fears and reluctance. The authors have to participate in a panel discussion, with Zaza using this to point out the Georgians' oppression from the Russians, and his colleague is so drunk that he can only speak lamentably. Once again, Zaza also thinks about his relationships with the women and once more realizes that he always fails.

Brussels
There they were placed in the 'Arab Quarter'. They thought they had landed in Egypt. They learned that they should write a short story for the final event in Berlin. It was a competition. The best story was published in Sipliccismus.

Frankfurt
On the one hand, they were at the book fair and visited their 'famous' country authors, and on the other hand the Russian authors were concerned about the fact that the Georgians did not receive entry visas for Russia.

Malbork, Poland
I did not like this chapter. It was mostly about sex. The Georgians stay a few days longer because they can not travel further to Russia. The Greek Helen does not accompany her husband either. Zaza is already hoping that he can have a rendezvous with her.

Russia: Kaliningrad and Moscow
One does not know what the others are doing there. They are only thoughts and letters of other writers who are mentioned, but have nothing to do with the two cities.

Warsaw
All participants will meet again before it goes to Berlin to the final event. Zaza is disappointed that he has no contact with Helena. In the following he notes that this whole trip is only made for losers and well-known writers have not been invited at all.

Berlin
Terminus of the Literatur Express. Zaza was the only one not to write a short story. A Chechen wins the contest. He wrote a story about Russia, which is incomprehensible to many.

I often had trouble with the story. Love life and sexual desires / activities take up a lot of space. A second major part took in the feelings of the Georgians, who always repeated (war / fear / too little self-confidence).
About the individual places one hardly experiences anything, this train could go somewhere.

book 44 Read in German

 State of Wonder
AAC October

What a captivating story. Marinas work colleague is in the Brazilian Amazonas to see the right since the company never again hears something of the project that they finance. When the death message of her colleague came Marina went to Manaus. When she finally arrives at the camp, she quickly realizes that it is not just about researching fertility into old age, but also about permanent protection against malaria.
What fascinates me is that the leader of the camp is so anxious not to disclose this native tribe to the public, so that they can continue to live according to their old traditions. This is and was one of the biggest problems of the Amazon inhabitants.

Much of what Marina has experienced in this jungle reminds me of our journey in the Peruvian Amazon. We also stayed for a few days in a settlement of native Indians, far from civilization. Without the support and leadership, we would have been lost within minutes in the thickets of the jungle. We instinctively developed an intrinsic trust in these people even if we moved in the dark and had no idea what animals were in the immediate vicinity. We could only hear them. In daylight we saw some of these animals and were amazed at how close we got to a big anaconda. It was an impressive experience that I will never forget, and thanks to this book many memories came back up.

book 45 Read in German

 The Price of Salt
AAC August

This is a wonderfully narrated story about the love of two women who were banned and shows that it has survived despite all the nastiness.
What particularly appealed to me was the relationship to each other, which was something pure and precious. Both women were always afraid that if they reveal their feelings for one another at the same time something destroy. It also showed that love is much stronger than any conventions.

book 46 Read in German

 Sunday The Rabbi Stayed Home

Also in the third story of Rabbi Small his job in the community is at stake. He has been working as a rabbi for six years now. Since the community leaders change annually, he always has an opposition first, before he sits firmly in the saddle again. This time the offsprings of his opponents are involved in a murder. Rabbi Small quickly realizes that they have nothing to do with it and is trying to get them out of the investigation as quickly as possible. These young Jewish parishioners stand by their Rabbi and the close bond with their mothers they can convince the board members of the community that they have a good rabbi.
This story is again amusingly written and it was a fast reading.

book 47 Read in German

 The Sea Detective

This is the first volume of the The Sea Detective series. The main protagonists, which are also likely to be found later are Cal McGill a marine biologist who calculates the currents of the sea and can therefore say where a beach property originally came into the sea. The detective Helen Jamieson of the police Edinburgh working with Cal and an Indian girl who was sold for the sex trade with children.
In this book you get to know the protagonists. Cal is looking at what has happened to his grandfather in 1942 and is struck by a wall of silence and rejection. Helen tries to find her place inside the police and the Indian girl experiences the hell since she was abused for years.
The story is exciting and I will read the sequels of this series.

book 48

 The Disappeared
Root 2017

This is the second volume of the Jenny Cooper series. I was already tied up from the first volume and this book is also exciting from the first to the last page. Jenny Cooper is the Coroner for the Severn Vale District and is fully occupied with finding out what happened to two young Muslim students eight years ago. The events come thick and fast, because recently, people who have been poisoned by radioactivity have died or others because they are involved in both cases. Who can Jenny trust? She gets help from a side that is not quite kosher.
It also has a lot to do with private life. She neglects her teenage son and feels strongly attracted to her neighbour.
Unfortunately, the content of the story fits the recent events in Manchester, which of course I could not know. It is exciting and solidly built and I will definitely read the continuation of this series.

book 49 ♫ Read in German

 In The Woods

I read the second volume of the Dublin Murder Squad series five years ago and finally came to the series from the beginning.
The story is very exciting as it plays between the past and the present. Detective Rob has a connection to the scene of action because he had to experience as a child, how a friend disappeared and was no longer found.
In the now, a dead girl is found in an archeological excavation. Soon it will be clear who she is. The detectives try to figure out who killed her and why. In doing so, they reach the limits of clean determination. On the contrary, they are continually deceived.
The outcome of the story fits into the crumbling investigations. Nobody is really happy and you can not change it.

book 50 ♫ Read in German

 The Assault
BB from Darryl

This is a very exciting and interesting story. Anton, as a boy, experiences an assassination at his doorstep, which changes and shapes his whole life. It is in the winter of 1945, shortly before the end of the war, when Anton, with this incident, becomes an orphan. He tells his story in different episodes of his life, while he is constantly confronted with this incident, either because he meets people from then or he gradually understands what really happened.
Muslisch has done a masterpiece with this fiction. His writing style is great. He can let the reader dive into the story from the very first moment. All protagonists have something special. I never had the feeling for someone to take special party.
This is a book that I highly recommend.

Congratulations on getting to 50 books!!!

>61 PaperbackPirate: Thanks so much PP. I've never reached it so early in the year.

book 51

 Dark Harbour
ROOT 2017

This is the first book of the Scott Finn series. Finn is a lawyer in Boston and is suspected of killing his work colleague. He himself is on the lookout for who killed her and therefore is caught up in his past when he was an orphan to one of the most feared gangs in Boston.
The story is very engaging from the beginning and one can hardly stop reading it. I will definitely read the sequels.

book 52 ♫ Read in German

 Requiem

That was an exciting listening. There is a bank attack, and there are hostages. The ex-wife of Paul Hjelm is among the hostages and transmits pictures by smartphone to the investigators. Soon the investigators realize that it is not a classic bank robbery behind it, but it must be something else. They find out that the perpetrators are coming from the former Stasi Department and old accounts have to be settled.
This thriller is exciting and gripping.

book 53

 36 Yalta Boulevard
ROOT 2017

This is the third volume of the Eastern Bloc series. Again, I like how Steinhauer packed the history of Eastern Europe during the Cold War. In this book Brano Sev is often in his home village, but he also experiences a lot in Vienna. It shows very clearly how state employees, even those who work in the secret service center, trust their superiors blindly. They do not question whether something is going on correctly or not within their own ranks, but are always looking for the evil in the 'enemy'. Therefore, there is also an awful awakening when one must realize that one is misused and betrayed by one's own supervisor.
I like this series very much and Steinhauer is a master to pack the historical facts into an spy thriller.

book 54

 Mystery
ROOT 2017

This is the third book from the Alex Delaware series that I've read and it has not gripped me so much. A young woman is found dead. Alex and his escort they had seen her hours before when they took a drink in an old hotel bar. The mystery was above all: Who is this woman? On whom did she wait? Why was she killed? Alex and Milo are looking for the victim's past, discovering that she has been acquainted with the drugs and the pimping milieu, but has always been a victim there.

book 55

 The Lizard's Bite
ROOT 2017

I'm glad I read Lucifer's Shadow seven years ago, so I've been very familiar with some of the main characters alongside the investigator team. This is actually the continuation of it. Nic and his team investigate in Venice. In a glass blowing a double murder took place. It is not easy for the investigators to find the right footprints, they are nevertheless on strange terrain and they are placed many stones in the way, so that the corruption that prevails in this city does not come to light.

book 56 Read in German

 Schlaflose Nacht

This is a wonderful story of a woman who only fourteen months after marriage lost her husband who began suicide. In this story she tells how she met her husband, how her short time was together, and she is also on the lookout for why suicide since he left no farewell letter. Since the death of her husband, she has filled her life with short affair, and it is important for her to talk about her life.
The story is very sensitive written with much to the madness and confusion of human thought.

book 57 ♫ Read in German

 Die Herrin der Kathedrale

This is a historical mystery which plays in the beginning of the year 1000 in Germany. Thanks to the help of her mother, a young aristocrat, who was punished by her father, was taken to a monastery. Shortly thereafter, the mother mysteriously died. The young aristocratic lady, however, had to wait fourteen years for enlightenment. In the meantime she was in the favour of the Empress, who protected her. She was married but did not love her husband but his brother, who wanted to build a cathedral. During the construction he went to the monastery and the young countess builded the cathedral against all the resistance of the ecclesiastical authorities. It was only at the initiation that she received justice.

book 58 Read in German

 Hotel Alpha

Hotel Alpha was opened in the early 1960s and was an institution. There were many big and small stories in this hotel. The story is told from the point of view of hotel receptionist friend and helper Graham as well as by Chas, who has a lifeworld and life story in this hotel.
There are secrets that have a huge impact on the lives of the protagonists and can not undo the lost time.
The book was fast and amusing.
If you would like to learn more about Hotel Alpha you find answers and stories on this website.

book 59 Read in German

 Sizilianische Rache

This is an exciting story that plays in Sicily, with all its clichés about family ties, mafia acts, murder and robbery. In this story, the Phoenician statue The Youth of Mozia i> is stolen. There is also a murder, which belongs to a series of murders within a family clan. The story is told in the now, in between there are also chapters that go back far, so that one understands the complex family construct and its history. Luca Santangelo, who is actually a journalist, has to help his son Diego, who was at the wrong time on the island of Mozia and was therefore accused of murder.
The story grabbed me from the start and let me guess how it goes until the very end.

book 60 Read in German

 The Invisible Guardian

This is the great start to Baztan Trilogy. Who loves crime stories combined with mythology, comes fully to his credit. This trilogy plays in the northern Spanish Pyrenees in Papmplona and its hinterland. Inspectora Amaia Salazar, who works for the murder commission in Pamplona, must not only find the murderer of young teenage girls before he can strike again, but also fight the ghosts of her own past. For this she lives temporarily with her aunt in Elizondo, where she grew up. She also receives unexpected help from creatures from the Basque mythology.
A very great book. It kept me gripped from the first to the last page. Redondo is a master of storytelling, she is subtle with much love for detail and for her figures, but never bloodthirsty.
I highly recommend this book.

book 61 Read in German

 The Legacy of the Bones

Also the second part of the Baztan Trilogy kept me breathless. Inspectora Amaia Salazar fights on three fronts. On the one hand, there are abused dead women, each lacking a forearm. On the other hand, there is a church desecration, whereby old bones are found by small children and she come to her personal secret, which she has been plaguing since birth. Also in this book the Pyrenaean mythological figures play a role. Some help Amaia while others pull her deeper and deeper into the swamp.
This part kept me from the first to the last page. I have rarely read such a good trilogy.

book 62 Read in German

 Breaking Silence

This was a fast, exciting reading. Chief Kate Burkholder fights on different fronts. On the one hand, she has three Amishs, which were found dead in a cesspool; on the other hand, many rants are opposed to the Amish, be it beaten up Amish men, slaughtered animals, to a burned barnyard. Are these cases all linked to each other or are there several perpetrators at work? For Burkholder, it will be a race with time, so that no more innocent will find their death.

book 63 Read in German

 Madame le Commissaire und die späte Rache

This was a cozy mystery, just right when you spend your holidays in France. Isabelle Bonnet, who was once one of the best personal protectors of France and who, after a serious injury to a bomb, recovered in Fragolin, her birthplace in Provence can not leave the determination. Her former boss also lets her guard a person from the witness protection program. She has herself set the task to resume old unresolved cases. In doing so, she encounters an unexplained murder. With her perseverance and the help of her assistant, she can solve this case. It is not without turmoil and the person who has to be protected does not make her life easy either.

book 64

 A Chemical Prison

This was the second book of the Cetin Ikmen series that I've read. It shows, on the one hand, Turkish thought and life before today's political situation, but also much further back in the time of the Ottoman Empire. A young man is found murdered in a hidden apartment. Soon it becomes clear that he was kept there for years. Ikmen and his colleagues continually encounter dead ends during their investigations. It takes very long and many coincidences to get to the right track. The perpetrator is constantly in touch with them, but they do not notice it for a long time. Private is not doing well at Ikmen and his colleague Suleyman. They also have to make decisions that change their lives.
It was very exciting and gripping from the beginning, and it took time before I realized which direction it was going to turn into.

book 65

 The Columbus Affair

This is a self-contained book and does not belong to the Cotton Malone series. Was Columbus a Jew? Around this question Berry wrote his interesting and exciting mystery. In the appendix, Berry explains which facts he has used are historically proven and correct, and that is not a few.
Now to the story: The story swings between the times as Columbus his journey, the 20th century and today and between the places Jamaica, USA, Vienna and Prague .. It is about the Jewish temple treasure, which is supposedly hidden by Columbus in Jamaica And only the Levite knows where this is hidden. As always, there is enough 'evil' to have this treasure for themselves.
The story is fast-paced and gripping. I like the mix between History and mystery.

book 66 Read in German

 Gute Zeiten für schlechte Menschen

What I especially liked about this mystery was that the main characters of the Trieste police were not only determined, but also from their personal life in history. Commissario Benussi is currently ill. He goes to crutches because he had a bad accident in the last case. The inspector, Elettra Morin, loses her adoptive mother and the young inspector Valerio Gargiulo, yearns for the warmth of his home town of Naples, and on the other hand he wants to gain the affection and love of his colleague Morin. But it's all about the disappearance of Carla, Commissario Benussi's wife. She works as a psychologist with people who are addictive. Soon it is clear that she was abducted. A race starts with the time. For Benussi it is not only difficult that his wife is abducted, he also has problems with his teenage daughter Livia. The investigations lead into a dark chapter of the Balkan war. It is easy to see that various "slaughterers" have found shelter in Trieste.

book 67 Read in German

 The Heist

This was again a very exciting Gabriel Allon thriller. Even if I do not always read the books in the correct order, this series packs me very much.
Gabriel Allon and his team are once again on the track of the altarpiece by Caravaggio. But as always, this is more a hanger for the main story. This is about the assets of the Syrian ruling family and how Allon and his team could steal this. The roads lead from Venice via London to Lake Como and further to Vienna.

book 68

 The House of Dolls

This is a good start in the Detective Pieter Vos series. She plays in Amsterdam. Pieter Voss has retired from the police service because his teenage daughter was abducted three years ago and he was not able to find her. His marriage also failed. Now, he is discovered by a very young and self-willed police officer, Laura Bakker, since a young girl has disappeared and the news is handed over in exactly the same way as with Voss' daughter. Voss is reluctant to return. The search and hunting leads through Amsterdam's drug and mafia family, which have been fighting for years. Voss and Bakker soon realize that there are various moles within the police service and the political establishment. It's a race with time and some people die.
The story is very exciting. It grabbed me from the first until the very last page.

book 69 Read in German

 Monday the Rabbi Took Off

This is the fourth volume of the Rabbi Small series. Rabbi Small travels to Jerusalem for three months. At home, he asked for an unpaid time-out. His representation is well received in the community. Especially the municipal board would like to keep this. They want to get rid of Rabbi Small. Small enjoys his time out in Jerusalem. He notes that he does not have to go to the synagogue on a regular basis, that the Sabbath must be the same for all and not be celebrated with worship services. He thinks seriously about staying in Jerusalem. He also comes to Jerusalem without any detective investigations. A bomb attack makes him a suspect, but he is only traveling with fellow countrymen and as always at the wrong time in the wrong place.
It was a delightful reading, though not as powerful as the other books.

book 70 ♫ Read in German

 The Winter Rose

This is the second part of the Rose series. This time India is in the main focus. She gains the right to be trained as a doctor and to be able to practice. Many stones are, of course, placed in the way, as it was not customary for women to learn this profession at the beginning of the twentieth century and to hold their own in this male domain. She encounters Sid, Fiona's brother from the first part. Their love is strong, but may not be somehow. The scenes are England and Kenya.
What I like about this series is that it is always about exceptionally strong women who have to fight their rights at a time when this was not normal.

I read The Tea Rose earlier this year. I'm definitely looking forward to The Winter Rose. Thanks for sharing your review!

>83 PaperbackPirate: Isn't it a great series? I'm looking forward to the third part. I'm sure you'll like The Winter Rose.

>84 Ameise1: Yes, I love the girl power aspect too!

book 71 Read in German

 Nightblind

Great second volume of the Dark Iceland series. The main protagonists from the first volume are once again on the trail of mendicants. It also shows this time that murderers can also be victims, but the worst villain got his just punishment. It is about trafficking, abuse and revenge. Policeman Ari tries to regain his girlfriend. Policeman Hlynur can hardly work, as a blackmailer blocks him completely and his past seems to catch up with him and policeman Tómas, is not sure whether he should stay in Siglufjördur or yet move to his wife to Reykjavik. But all this does not matter much more than the corpse of an architect is found.
The story is captivating and I am already looking forward to the next volume of this series.

book 72 ♫ Read in German

 Prince of Fire

Also this time I was not disappointed by the Gabriel Allon series. Gabriel has to leave Venice and return to the service as the past seems to catch up with him. A terrorist act in Rome shakes him as he realizes that he must take a terrorist whose father has already been murdered by Gabriel. It is a race with time. Gabriel's wife Lea is abducted and he comes into contact with a radicalized palistine woman who does not shy away from death.
The book is very exciting from the first to the last page.

book 73

 The Devil's Workshop

This is a well-made historical mystery, which plays in 1890. The figure of Jack the Ripper is also installed in such a way that he plays a prominent role. In a planned jailbreak, which was not quite as planned, five prisoners who were sentenced to death can flee. The hunt for the escaped leads through old London as well as through the underground catacombs. Soon, Walter Day of the Scotland Yard Murder Squad finds that up to the highest ranks in politics, police and high-ranking citizens are a group of diabolic comrades who take the judiciary in their own hands.
The story is exciting and fast.

book 74 Read in German

 Offering to the Storm

Great completion of the Baztan Trilogy. I have not been so busy reading as with this trilogy. I highly recommend it.
In this book, the events are pointed. Amaia Salazar not only fights the demons of the valley and her family, but also succumbs to the devil who tries to destroy her surroundings. She realizes that all bodies, from the beginning, are to be assigned to a sacrificial ritual. She is getting closer and closer to the head of these unspeakable bonds, and puts herself in great danger.

book 75 Read in German

 The Cold, Cold Ground
BB from Charlotte

This is the great start in the Sean Duffy series, which plays in the high bloom of the unrest in Northern Ireland. Sean Duffy is a Catholic policeman, who is not afraid and is not afraid to get to the bottom of things. He is a little crude and rude, but his heart is in the right place. What appears initially as a simple murder of homosexuals, leads him soon to the top of the IRA, the moles and dark secrets.
The story is exciting and fast-paced. I will definitely read the other books of this series.

book 76 Read in German

 Exit West

This is a story that made me very thoughtful, and when I read it, I was a bit upset. The two main figures, Nadia and Saeed, need each other from the beginning, and at the same time they can not be more different. While Nadia is not afraid of changes and her life as an independent woman already lives, Saeed, who is trapped in traditions, always needs someone at his side. Nevertheless, both realize that they are not created for a lifelong relationship with each other.
What really concerned me when reading was how Hamid describes life and the feelings of the people in a war zone. It is so dangerous and also hopeless that one can understand everyone who escapes from such an area. But he also tells how it goes to such an escape. How the refugees in new places are not received with open arms. how life is made to hell. This book, which tells about emigration and migration, is very sensitive and does not leave anyone cold.

book 77 Read in German

 Das Vermächtnis der Runen

This is a great historical mystery, which plays between 1750 and 1850. The castles are Scotland, Florence and NY. Walter Scott, publisher, author, and 'historical memory', has disappeared without a trace, and is declared dead. His nephew travels back to Scotland with his wife from NY to regulate the legacy.
Soon it appears that a conspiracy is underway that threatens the existence of Scotland. On the scene appears a woman who claims that the royal blood of Stewarts flows through her veins. This calls for an ancient union, the brotherhood of the runes, on the scene.
The story is excitingly and fast-paced told.

book 78 Read in German

 Siegen heißt, den Tag überleben: Nahaufnahmen aus Syrien

This is a deeply impressive book on the war in Syria. It shows once again that the great Powers are guilty of much. This begins after the WWI when they divided the Middle East into countries without taking into account which ethnic groups were divided by it. This is a big reason why cohabitation in the Middle East can not work. But even in the current situation, the Great Powers and the United Nations cut badly. They have again missed the opportunity to sit down at a table, to put their needs in the background to face the Syrian government. Who suffers the most is the population.
This book shows the history and roles of the Middle East, especially Syria, its population, government, allies. It shows that the Syrian government commits systematic genocide and can never be stopped by the Great Powers. There is a voice to the people who are suffering these torments, who do not see any perspective or future and feel abandoned by the rest of the world's population.
It is a book that goes under the skin and lets you become angry because nobody is doing anything.

book 79 Read in German

 I Hear the Sirens in the Street

Also, in the second book of the Sean Duffy series, the hero steps from one fat nap into the other. He is repeatedly violated, but his stubbornness to solve a case, no bans on high up can stop. Everything begins with a torso, which is found in a suitcase. Soon it is clear who the murdered man was. This is the beginning of the run of the runner, since various secret services of England and the USA are involved. Duffy's ways lead to a remote place in Northern Ireland, where no one wants to have anything to do with the police. There he encounters a young widow who does not necessarily support him. In spite of all the prohibitions of his superiors, he is determined further and is exposed to great dangers, but he gets closer and closer to the solution.
Also this book was very exciting to read. Duffy and his team have grown to me.

book 80 Read in German

 Ask the Parrot

This is more of a psychological mystery. After a bank robbery, the three robbers are fleeing. Parker tries his luck in a rural area, but is put by a resident (Tom Lindahl), not by giving Parker to the police or accusing him directly as a bank robber. It is much more a purposeful community. Parker takes part in the search for himself. He can deceive many community members, but not all. Lindahl has not participated in community activities for a long time. He worked until his release on a racecourse. There is every Saturday night, the money stored in the cellar. Since he still has a key to the race track. he has long been fond of making money and starting a new life in another place. Parker was just about to get him going. Parker encourages and supports Lindahl by killing unloved persons.
The story is written very subtle.

book 81 Read in German

 The Reluctant Fundamentalist

This is an interesting story when a Pakistani who studied in the US and worked for a large company in NY and an American in Lahore met. Actually, the Americans only of the audience, a little confused and stiff who does not quite feel comfortable in Lahore, while the Pakistani reflects on his life in America, with the Americans and their views of life. On the one hand, he was fascinated by the American lifestyle, on the other hand, he also saw the superficiality and lust for power where it's all about money.
He was guided by emotions and seduced, so that in the end he only saw the way back to his home.
I like how Hamid can describe a world view and values only through the eyes of a person so well.

book 82 Read in German

 The Gods of Gotham
BB from Lori (lkernagh)

Exciting entry into the Timothy Wilde series. NY 1845 shortly after a big fire, which burned down Timothy's home, the New York police was founded. There were still no clear rules and regulations, so this spoiled police corps was rather corrupt and often served more to the party than the citizen. Not so Timothy, who used to work as a bartender. He works with the unorthodox way for the weak. This first part of the trilogy is about child prostitution. Thimothy finds out that a devilish madam forces children to prostitution, and if they are no longer useful, let them kill or die.
It is an exciting story, it shows a lot about NY at that time.

book 83 Read in German

 Seven For A secret
BB from Lori (lkernagh)

This is the second volume of the Timothy Wilde trilogy. This time the main focus is on the slave trade. While in NY the colored people are free, but have no rights, slavery still prevails in the South of the USA. This exploit devilish powers to kidnap free NY colored people and sell them in the south. Mixed marrriages are a very big taboo. Also the Railway Underground gets a place in this story.
Timothy runs between all fronts and must also help his brother, who had a corpse in his home. But also Timothy needs Vals help urgently.
All the main protagonists are also featured in this book. It is exciting as they evolve. It is interesting how Faye can put NY's story in an exciting plot.

book 84Read in German

 The Fatal Flame
BB from Lori (lkernagh)

This is an exciting conclusion to the Timothy Wilde trilogy. This part deals with the rights of women. It is the beginning of a long movement. The seamstresses want more wages and better working conditions. That this is not like the male class rule is clear. A factory boss, who is at the same time still a city councilor, is thoroughly devilish. Timothy, his brother and his colleagues have all hands full to do to stop the series of house fires.
This trilogy was very exciting and amusing to read. Somehow it is a pity that the stories around Timothy Wilde and his co-workers is over.

book 85 Read in German

 In The Morning I'll Be Gone

Also the third volume of the Sean Duffy series convinced me very much. Duffy, who had been debated with his unorthodox investigations and his obstinacy to a patrolman, got the order out of the service and retired prematurely. This is too boring for him and he is useless. Were there not the various British intelligence services that want to make use of its potential and knowledge, and already Duffy is again in the middle of determining. After a jailbreak, all the secretaries are looking for the escaped leading heads of the IRA, as they have to face serious attacks. Duffy can only track the IRA boss, since he must first uncover the unexplained death of his sister-in-law.
As always, this story is very exciting.

book 86 Read in German

 Dying Fall

As always Ruth Galloway is fast in the middle of a case. In addition to the fact that she wants to solve it, her loved ones are often in danger. She is asked by an old friend to help him with a check of bones. But before she can get an overview and can get in contact with him, he is dead. So she travels to the north with her little daughter and Cathbad. During the investigation, she encounters racial hatred and druid forces. It doesn't go without any help from the police, Nelson, who is on holiday in the north, quickly took part in the investigations.
As always, it is an exciting story.

book 87 Read in German

 Temporary Perfections

This is a sound crime thriller from the Guido Guerrieri series. Guerrieri is an attorney and was commissioned by a friend to find out the remaining of a young woman. Guerrieri studies all the files and notes that the girlfriends of the disappeared young woman have not told everything. During the reconstruction of the last days, he also deals with himself and his career. He also comes back into contact with former clients.
A varied crime thriller from the deep south of Italy.

book 88 Read in German

 After The Storm

Actually, I wanted to get the third volume of the Kate Burkholder series from the library but, without looking closely, I got the seventh volume taken. Well, I'm used to not reading a series in the correct order.
This volume is about a 'forbidden' love between an Amish girl and a non-Amish boy that took place thirty years ago. Only through a skeletal discovery, the story came to light. After such a long time, Kate Burkholder not only has to find the killer, but she also fights against a recent death, where she is accused by relatives of causing the death of the child. Personally, she also struggles with a loss.
The story is very well structured and exciting.

book 89 ♫ Read in German

 Todesengel

This is a thriller that picks up a recent phenomenon that unfortunately occurs in many cities. Again and again, innocent passers-by are brutally put down by adolescents. The age of the victims does not matter, it's just about letting out the pent up rage.
Berlin: After an elderly man is knocked down in a subway station, suddenly a white figure emerges, who shoots down the culprits. The police does not believe the victim and suspects him of the murders. Soon after, another similar incident happens. Also this time one offender is killed by the white figure, the other gets from him a warning, that from now on the figure, who calls himself angel of death and watches over the victims, will protect the city from malefactors. A freelance journalist gets access to the first victim. An editor scents a great story and hires the journalist for his own TV show. The journalist reveals that the police and authorities are doing nothing about the brutal abuses and rather disguising things than exposing them. Thanks to this TV show, the police will be active.
This is a very exciting story, well structured and very fast.

book 90 Read in German

 A Walk In The Dark

This is the second volume from the Guido Guerrieri series. This book discusses 'sexual abuse of children' as well as psychological and physical violence in one's own home. Carofiglio is a master when it comes to uncovering human brutality. He painstakingly shows how the Italian courts are ticking, how men still look on trivial things, how family members look away when violence is involved and how difficult it is and how much courage it takes to convict the perpetrators.
Also this book is a successful work, which I can highly recommend.

book 91 Read in German

 Gone Missing

Also this volume from the Kate Burkholder series was exciting. This time it was all about disappeared Amish teen girls. Individual cases dragged on for years. It turns out that the human mind can be broken by tragic events and the devilish come to light. Likewise, this book shows that fanatical faith does evil.

book 92 ♫ Read in German

 Buddhaland Brooklyn
BB from Marianne (MichiganTrumpet)

This is a great story of a Japanese who lost his entire family as a teenager, shortly after joining a Prister School. The story is about his life, where he seems to be torn between the Buddhist faith and the worldly vices. The story starts in Japan and ends in New York. I have learned a lot about Buddhist thinking. It was very entertaining and amusing.

book 93 ♫ Read in German

 The Fleur de Sel Murders

This is Commissaire Dupins's third case. As always, he alone follows a hint and promptly endanger himself. This time it's about the famous Breton salt marshes. There are several murders until Commissioner Dupin, his team and another commissariat can solve the case. It is very exciting written and this time it brings Jean-Luc Bannalec effectively incorporate an environmental aspect into the story.

book 94 Read in German

 Shatter the Bones

This is the seventh volume of the Logan McRae series. I had read three books from this series so far and found them very exciting. Also with my fourth book I was not disappointed.
Logan McRae and his team are very busy. On the one hand, they are after a drug dealer and want to stop him. They must realize that dependent drug dealers are capable of anything and life can be very uncomfortable. On the other hand, it's about kidnapping a young girl. The kidnappers put the police under pressure and do not shy away from sending body parts of the kidnapped as a means of pressure to the authorities. It's a fight for the time. The story is very exciting. I certainly would read more books from this series.

book 95 ♫ Read in German

 The Wine of Angels

What a brilliant start in a new series for me. It's so good that I ordered the next three books from the Merrily Watkins series at my favourite bookstore, as only the newer volumes are available in the library.
This series plays in Herefordshire and is a mixture of mystery and paranormalism, which gives the whole thing a certain spice. In this first volume, Merrily Watkins - mother of a Teenage daughter - is used as a pastor in a small village. However, until she can take the oath, an awful lot happens and she's more busy solving a crime than fulfilling the obligations for which she should be hired. For hundreds of years there has been an old apple orchard behind the church. These are very special apples from which cider was made. However, during these years, people died in this apple orchard - some were murdered, others died in mysterious ways. Jane, Merrily's daughter, has the gift of seeing these souls out of the past and believes in their predictions. This puts her in great danger.
A great debut, well written and read quickly.

book 96 Read in German

 Gun Street Girl

This is Sean Duffy's fourth case. He got his old job back at the RUC Carrickfergus, but his superiors are not necessarily happy about it. When a new murder happened, Duffy leaves the primary responsibility to his friend McCrabban and pulls the strings in the background. He is different authorities on their toes and makes more enemies than friends. There are many dead in this case, all of which can be associated with missing rockets. He is not only investigating this in Northern Ireland but also in Oxford and Scotland.
As always exciting written and lets you guess until the end.

Wow you've almost doubled your goal!

>112 PaperbackPirate: It was indeed the best reading year I ever had. I suppose the upcoming year won't be so good.
This was the last book for this year. My currently reading is a chunkster and will count for the new year. I hope to see you there too.

>113 Ameise1: I hope you enjoy it and I'll see you next year!