New Crime & Mystery Fiction Titles From
Harvill
08 July-Sept
New Crime & Mystery Fiction Titles From
Harvill
JULY-SEPT 08
Arnaldur Indridason
The Draining Lake
Pbk published August 2008 by Harvill at £6.99
ISBN: 0099494140
In the wake of an earthquake, the water level of an Icelandic lake drops suddenly, revealing the skeleton of a man half-buried in its sandy bed. It is clear immediately it has been there for many years. There is a large hole in the skull. Yet more mysteriously it is weighted down by a heavy communication device, possibly some sort of radio transmitter, bearing inscriptions in Russian. The police are called in and Erlendur, Elinborg and Sigurdur Oli begin their investigation, which gradually leads them back to the time of the Cold War when bright, left-wing students would be sent from Iceland to study in the 'heavenly state' of Communist East Germany. Slowly, a window begins to open on a very different place in a very different era. It will be some time, however, before this episode gives up its secrets or its various betrayals are revenged.
The "Draining Lake" is another remarkable Reykjavik Murder Mystery. It takes in passions and shattered dreams, the fate of the missing and the grief of those left behind. It is Arnaldur Indridason's best book yet.
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Arnaldur Indridason
Arctic Chill
Pbk published September 2008 by Harvill at £11.99
ISBN: 1846550653
Bernard Scudder (Translator)
On an icy January day the Reykjavik police are called out to a block of flats where a body has been found in the garden: a young, dark-skinned boy, frozen to the ground in a pool of his own blood. The discovery of a stab wound in his stomach puts paid to any hope that this was a tragic accident. Erlendur and his team embark on their investigation with little to go on but the news that the boy's Thai half-brother is missing. Is he implicated, or simply afraid for his own life?The investigation soon unearths tensions simmering beneath the surface of Iceland's outwardly liberal, multicultural society. A teacher at the boy's school makes no secret of his anti-immigration stance; incidents are reported between Icelandic pupils and the disaffected children of incomers; and, to confuse matters further, a suspected paedophile has been spotted in the area. Meanwhile, the boy's murder forces Erlendur to confront the tragedy in his own past. Soon, facts are emerging from the snow-filled darkness that are more chilling even than the Arctic night.
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Andrey Kurkov
The Good Angel of Death
Pbk published September 2008 by Harvill at £11.99
ISBN: 184655117X
When Kolia moves into a new flat in Kiev, he finds a book hidden within a volume of "War and Peace". Intrigued by the annotations that appear on every page, Kolia sets out to discover more about the scribbler. His investigations take him to a graveyard, more specifically the coffin of a Ukrainian nationalist who died in mysterious circumstances and was buried with a sealed letter and a manuscript. An exhumation under cover of darkness reveals that an item of great national importance is buried near a fort in Kazakhstan.As nightwatchman at a baby-milk factory, Kolia exposes himself to the attentions of a criminal gang, and so he decides to leave Kiev for a while. Armed with only three cases of baby milk, which have unexpected hallucinogenic properties, he sets off on what turns out to be a very bizarre journey: crossing the Caspian Sea and traversing the deserts of Kazakhstan. He meets a host of unlikely characters on the way, including Bedouins, ex-KGB officers and a spirit-like companion in the form of a chameleon..
."The Good Angel of Death" is a classic, first-rate Kurkov yarn which is sure to delight old and new fans alike.
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Paul Micou
Confessions of a Map Dealer
Published August 2008 by Harvill at £12.99
ISBN: 1846551498
'My first mistake was to be heterosexual'. Such is one of several complaints in the first of four conversations between Henry Hart - who is a married father of two young girls - and his long-time friend, Darius Saddler - who is gay and unattached. It is just over a year since the two men last met. Crippled and humiliated by debt, Hart - a dealer in antique maps - has managed to ruin his marriage, to commit an undeniable act of theft, and to become a suspect in France for a very serious crime. With a lover on the side, a stolen map in his pocket, an ace French detective on his trail, a wife who is unusually cold and in the know, it is time for Hart to enlist the help of his oldest friend."Confessions of a Map Dealer" relates the attempts of Hart and Saddler to knit their lives together again, and to extricate Hart from the myriad problems he has brought upon himself. A mystery, a one-sided love story, a tale of guilt, blackmail and self-delusion, "Confessions of a Map Dealer" is an intricate comedy of errors from a celebrated practitioner of the genre.
Paul Micou was born in San Francisco in 1959. He grew up in Turkey, Iran, Washington D.C. and Connecticut. After graduating from Harvard in 1981 he moved to Paris, then London. He now lives in France with his wife and two sons. Confessions of a Map Dealer is his eighth novel.
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Daniel Pennac
The Scapegoat
Pbk published August 2008 by Harvill at £6.99
ISBN: 1860466117
Benjamin is a scapegoat. Under the official title of Quality Controller, he works for the complaints department of a large Parisian department store where he bears the brunt of customer complaints. When a bomb goes off in the toy department, he finds himself the prime suspect.
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Daniel Pennac
Fairy Godmother
Pbk published August 2008 by Harvill at £6.99
ISBN: 1860464459
See Review by
Bob Cornwell
Maybe the worst indignity for a Paris cop is to be shot dead by an old granny he is trying to help across the street in Paris on a frosty morning. An old lady needs protection with so many druggies around these days. Dressed as an elderly Vietnamese woman, Inspector Van Thian goes to investigate.
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Georges Perec
53 Days
Pbk published September 2008 by Harvill at £5.99
ISBN: 0002711664
53 Days (Paperback)
by Georges Perec (Author), David Bellos (Translator)
Georges Perec (7 March 1936 – 3 March 1982) was a highly-regarded French Jewish novelist, filmmaker and essayist. He was a member of the Oulipo group.
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