French crime writer Michel Bussi has a gift for avoiding the obvious
A French crime writer little known to English-speaking readers has a gift for avoiding the obvious.
If you like surprises in your crime novels, French writer Michel Bussi is your man. In DON’T LET GO (Weiden
feld & Nicolson, $37.99), Martial and his wife, Liane, visit the Indian Ocean resort island of Réunion, a French possession. When Liane disappears, it is obvious that Martial has killed her. But Bussi does not deal in the obvious; his soaring imagination produces surprises that no reader will see coming but are nevertheless entirely logical in the context he has created. This novel also conveys a detailed impression of the geographical and social aspects of Réunion. Bussi’s books are a joy to read, and the good news for us is that five of his titles have yet to be translated into English.
The gulf between people with consciences and those without is made brutally clear in VICIOUS CIRCLE by CJ Box (Head of Zeus,
$34.99). In the backward backwoods of Wyoming, game warden Joe Pickett is threatened by former rodeo star Dallas Cates, who is just out jail. Cates makes it clear that he intends to kill Pickett – and his wife and three daughters – in revenge for Pickett’s having put Cates in jail and killing Cates’ brother Bull. That killing was in self-defence, but Pickett knows he cannot reason with someone like Cates, and he cannot take 56 pre-emptive action because his conscience says he has to uphold the law. Nor can he just wait to be attacked; he needs to find a smart way out. Strong stuff, very well written.
Vampirism is the sensational element in Jo Nesbo’s THE THIRST (Harvill Secker,
$37). Someone is killing women in Oslo by biting their necks – apparently with iron teeth – and drinking their blood. The police make no progress; the killer, clever and well organised, leaves few clues. Nesbo’s protagonist, Harry Hole, is now lecturing at a police college but reluctantly agrees to return to the front line to help catch the killer in his own unorthodox way. At times, Nesbo seems to be trying too hard for sensational effect, as many lesser crime writers do, and aspects of the story strain credulity. On the other hand, he makes his characters seem believable by skilfully conveying their inner thoughts and describing their relationships.
Donna Leon has a rare ability to tackle social and environmental issues in her Venice-based crime novels without ever appearing to be didactic. Her EARTHLY
REMAINS (William Heinemann, $37) begins quietly as Commissario Guido Brunetti takes stress leave from the police on a small island near Venice and settles down to read Pliny’s Natural History. He rediscovers the simple joys of rowing around the great lagoon with an older local man, Davide Casati. Casati is worried because his bees are dying, the first sign that the theme of this book is pollution in the lagoon. He tells Brunetti that the death of his beloved bees is punishment for earlier sins but does not elaborate. Low-key and subtle, this is another fine novel by Leon.
Bussi’s imagination produces surprises no reader will see coming but are entirely logical in the context he has created.