May MysteryKIT - Detectives in Translation

Our theme this month is mysteries written by authors working in languages other than English. Few of us are true polyglots and so most of us are dependent on translation to see what is being written by these authors.

Here are some examples from my library (just one per author):


The original languages represented are Portuguese, Arabic, Dutch, Spanish, Italian, French, German, Japanese, Turkish, Finnish, and Swedish.

There are authors writing in many other languages besides these. Bookriot has a list of mystery fiction from around the world, many of which are are marked as translations.

I'm not a great reader of true crime, so I can't say anything about true crime in translation but perhaps somebody else could chime in with some suggestions.

Those who read in other languages besides English, have you any suggestions for non-Anglophone mystery writers translated into your languages? My main other language is Indonesian, but mystery, apart from Agatha Christie, does not seem to be a hugely popular genre here.

Please remember to add your reading to the wiki: https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/MysteryKIT_2022#May:_Detectives_in_Trans...

My own possible choices for this month's theme are:

The Mystery of Henri Pick by David Foenkinos, translated from French by Sam Taylor
The Invisible Guardian by Dolores Redondo, translated from Spanish by Isabelle Kaufeler
Grotesque by Natsuo Kirino, translated from Japanese by Rebecca Copeland

I’ve got Smilla’s Sense of Snow (by Peter Høeg in the stacks for this month.

I've got He Who Fears the Wolf by Karin Fossum - Original language Norwegian.

I will be reading Maigret in Vichy for this challenge.

I think I've decided on Death and the Penguin by Andrey Kurkov. (Russian)

>6 dudes22: I read this for the Endless Europe Challenge and found it both funny and sad. Kurkov is Ukrainian.

Though the title for this month is "detectives" in translation, the description says mysteries, so I think I'll go with this one, assuming my library has it:

The Council of Twelve / Oliver Potzsch

Earlier this year I read the latest Seishi Yokomizo novel to be translated and republished by Pushkin Vertigo: The Village of Eight Graves. This novel, translated by Bryan Karetnyk, features detective Kosuke Kindaichi.

I'll probably end up reading more Japanese mystery fiction this year, especially if the library manages to get the next Yokomizo title being published, Gokumon Island.

>7 VivienneR: - I took this as a BB way back in 2012. About time I got around to it.

>8 LibraryCin: I've always interpreted detectives liberally as anybody who solves or attempts to solve a crime. I had already been on LT for quite some time before I realised that what I had been calling detective fiction most people call mysteries.

I'm thinking of reading The strange cases of Magistrate Pao: Chinese tales of crime and detection, translated and retold by Leon Comber.

>11 Robertgreaves: Oh, perfect! Thank you.

>7 VivienneR: - Yes - he is Ukranian but he writes in Russian I saw when I looked him up.

Not sure yet which one I'll read, but I should be able to find one.

I'm planning to read The Butterfly House by Katrine Engberg, translated from Danish by Tara Chace.

Not a translation, but a good offer:

A Stuart Kaminsky Rostnikov mystery is available today for $.99 USD:

https://www.bookbub.com/books/death-of-a-russian-priest-by-stuart-m-kaminsky?buy...

I highly recommend this series, which isn't as readily available as it should be.

I think I'll read Blood on Snow from Jo Nesbo.

I am planning on reading Only One Life by Danish author Sara Blaedel.

I'm thinking of The Three Evangelists by Fred Vargas.

>20 pamelad: That was my first Fred Vargas, bought when I found it on sale at 50% off in a bookshop sale 14 years ago. I have now read all of her books which have been translated into English.

>21 Robertgreaves: I've finished it early and liked it, so will read the next book in the series. It falls in the middle ground between cosy and realistic.

I managed to read one book on two plane flights recently: The bastards of Pizzofalcone by Maurizio de Giovanni, translated from Italian by Antony Shugaar. This is the first of a series set in Naples, Italy in a precinct where four "misfit" detectives have been sent from their home precincts to fill vacancies caused by the arrest of four officers from the Pizzofalcone precinct. The author referenced Ed McBain in his acknowledgements, so fans of the 87th precinct series may also like this one.

Overall I liked the book with one caveat: I dislike mysteries that alternate points of view between the criminal and the investigation, and this novel uses that technique, partially. I might have bailed on it if I hadn't been a captive audience, but I'm glad I didn't. Happily, in Bastards the alternate points of view are not all from the criminal's perspective , nor are they presented in alternating chapters, but sprinkled throughout the book. And, at least for me, they didn't spoil who the murderer was.

The writing on this series is good, there is a good beginning of character development, and I look forward to getting better acquainted with the denizens of Pizzofalcone.

Found one for this challenge at a yard sale yesterday. I will be reading The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larson. The original language is Swedish.

I plan to read The Shape of Water by Andrea Camilleri. I read it a few years ago but I didn't warm to Montalbano and his colleagues until much later in the series so decided a reread was in order.

I have finished Das Nest der Nachtigall, a historical mystery which features Pellegrino Artusi, a real person and famous writer of cookbooks. The story is set in 1895, when Artusi was already in his seventies, and the pace is correspondingly sedate. The author has a very idiosyncratic style, the dialogue is 19th century, the narrator's voice very much 21st, which you either love or hate. I was in a mood to find it funny. However, I am completely baffled by the German title (The nest of the nightingale) which has no relation with the story that I can see.

I have finished Thirteen Hours by Deon Meyer, featuring South African detective Benny Griessel. Translated into English from Afrikaans.

I just started Smilla's Sense of Snow (by Peter Høeg, translated from the original Danish by Tiina Nunnally).

I've got several Maigret's from which to choose.

>27 marell:
I love the Benny Griessel novels. I have read all of them. There is a new one coming out this year. Might even be this summer.

I read Buried by Jussi Adler-Olsen

COMPLETED The Baztan Trilogy by Dolores Redondo, translated from Spanish by Isabelle Kaufeler (vol 1, The Invisible Guardian) and Nick Caistor and Lorenza Garcia, (vols 2 and 3, The Legacy of the Bones and Offering to the Storm).

A twisty police procedural with supernatural elements in the background.

I have multiple mystery series in translation I've been working on. So far this month, I've returned to Italy with Montalbano in Game of Mirrors by Andrea Camilleri and Finland with former cop turned lawyer, Maria Kallio, in Her Enemy by Leena Lehtolainen. I hope to visit a few more countriers before the end of the month.

I've finished Blood on Snow by Jo Nesbo. It's a stand alone story of a hitman who is ordered to kill his boss's wife. Character driven Norwegian Noir that I highly recommend. And it's my first Nesbo.

The Council of Twelve / Oliver Potzsch
4.25 stars

In the late 17th century, the hangmen of Bavaria are gathering just outside Munich for their guild council. They don’t often get to meet because, being the dishonourables that they are, no one wants to host their meetings. On this occasion, they happen to be near Munich as the dead bodies of two young girls are discovered, murdered in various styles of execution from the time. As more bodies are found, the hangmen, of course, are suspected. Jakob Kuisl, his daughter Magdalena, and her doctor husband Simon, try to help figure out what it going on.

Meantime, there is also a group of people distributing counterfeit money, and Simon (whose reputation as a mystery-solver has preceded him) has been asked to find the lost dog of a local “royal” family. Really, this turns out to be the young prince’s dog, who befriends Simon and Magdalena’s son, Peter. And Jakob’s younger daughter, Barbara, is at an age where she should be getting married; although, Magdalena was lucky and found someone above her station, Barbara is likely to have to marry one of the other executioners or their sons.

I really like this series and I feel like it gets better and better. I believe I am now caught up in the series, so it’s hard to say when I will get to the next one (I am assuming there will continue to be more – I hope!). The book switches points of view (though never first-person) quite often, but I like that it gives me the feel of all of these things happening, as different characters go about their business, at the same time. Of course, for suspense, it often cuts to a different character/scene just as something exciting is about to happen or happens.

The June Thread, "Historical Mysteries" is up: https://www.librarything.com/topic/341775

Currently reading The Kiss Murder by Mehmet Murat Somer, translated from Turkish by Kenneth Dakan

>35 LibraryCin: This is a great series. Really enjoy the characters and the setting, which is different than anything I've read. It's been awhile since any new books have been released, but I do hope he comes out with more.

>38 staci426: Agreed on all counts!

COMPLETED The Kiss Murder by Mehmet Murat Somer

My review:
Without naming names, Buse tells the owner of the transvestite night club where she hangs out that she still has letters and photos from a youthful liaison with an important public figure who very much wants the evidence to disappear. The next day, Buse is murdered but the police are uninterested, so the only way to find the murderer is to find the letters and photos.

A fascinating narrator and some very funny scenes in this thriller set in an interesting milieu. Unfortunately the font in this ebook was unable to cope with Turkish diacritics, which was distracting at times.

Halfway through The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco and so grateful to this challenge for providing just the excuse I needed to delve back into this terrific mystery.

I finally finished Smilla's Sense of Snow (by Peter Høeg; translated from the original Danish by Tiina Nunnally)! Something about the death of a little boy who has fallen form a Copenhagen rooftop while playing, doesn't sit right with Smilla-- so she starts asking questions. One thing leads to another and the story escalates from being a mystery to being a thriller playing out against the background of the Arctic ice and sea...
Written in 1997, it definitely became the model for much of the Scandinavian Noir that followed, including the Millennium Trilogy: an odd female protagonist who probably registers on the autism spectrum who becomes fully engaged, nearly obsessed with resolution and, experiences rather high-octane events in that pursuit. I like the bulk of the novel for the atmosphere, deft descriptions and pacing; but the last two sections seemed a bit less developed and the ending could have been better fleshed out. I've given three-and-a-half stars; but also planning on holding on to my copy. I have a feeling I'll want to come back to it again.

I have completed Only One Life by Danish author Sara Blaedel.

Thank you to everyone who participated. I hope you enjoyed discovering new authors or renewing your acquaintance with authors from different parts of the world.

I'm bummed I didn't get to read my pick for this month, The Old Woman with the Knife by Gu Byeong-mo (translated from Korean). I'm still in my library's hold queue...but hopefully I'll be able to read it in another month or two!

>45 christina_reads: Let us have your opinion when you eventually get your hands on it

I was able to finish two more books for this month:
A Midsummer's Equation by Keigo Higashino from Japanese
Smilla's Sense of Snow by Peter Hoeg from Danish

Finished The Name of the Rose last Monday and am really grateful that Robert chose this theme for this month. Great chance to re-read a classic book.