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The Outlander, by Gil Adamson

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Published 2007

A truly enjoyable book, the Outlander, by Gillian Adamson tells the story of a young widow’s flight from the avengers of her husband’s murderer. From the very beginning of the book the widow is declared to be the murderer, but just what happened is not clear. The widow doesn’t flee immediately but waits until the murder of her husband is discovered and she is blamed. At the beginning of the novel she is being pursued by her husband’s brothers, two red headed twins who become almost evil itself throughout the chapters of the book. Against all odds the widow manages to escape, leaving the reader hopeful at the close of each terrifying, breathless effort that she will find civilization and someone to help her. This appears to be the case when she is taken in by an elderly, wealthy mad woman she meets in a church, who is willing to harbor her, but who cannot withstand the might of the brothers who track her to the woman’s house. As the widow flees again and again, more of her past is revealed. In flashbacks we are told about her innocent upbringing by her widowed lawyer father and her paternal grandmother, a wealthy life which does not prepare her for the one she endures after her ill-thought-out marriage to her husband. Right away she is taken to a floorless hut without even a window, in a wilderness which had been described to her family as a fine house. Here she struggles to scrub and cook for a man who takes no more thought for her than if she were another mule added to his list of assets. After their baby dies within a few weeks of being born in the same bed he was conceived in, the widow is afflicted with madness. But while the widow is undeniably mentally disturbed in some respects, in others the craziness of her thoughts may lead to her salvation.
Adamson’s poetry is very evident in the writing of the book and although some of the words were lost on me, the writing is compelling. The style of beginning in the middle, during the flight of the widow, and then telling the beginning as the book proceeds along to its end is thoughtful and intriguing. One doesn’t know what actually happened regarding the murder until near the end of the book, lending it the air of a mystery as well as drama.
I can highly recommend this book, you will enjoy it.

Vicious Circle, by C. J. Box

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Published 2017
Joe Picket is in a small aircraft looking for a presumably lost hunter as part of his job as Game Warden in Wyoming. What Joe fears is that Dave Farkus, the hunter in question, is running for his life in the woods that he knows so well. Farkus had left Joe a message regarding a man whom Joe had put behind bars, but who has come back to Saddlestring in the last few days. Farkus sees Dallas Cates with two other men and a woman in a bar he frequents. Dave has been trying to hook up with the bartender, Wanda, for years now, but to no avail. Joe knows that Farkus isn’t lost; he knows the woods too well. But his camping buddy reported him missing when he arrives at camp, a cold beer still in the arm rest, and Dave’s gun left behind, like he left in a hurry. What happens next lets Joe know that he, his family and friends are all in danger now that Cates is back in town.
Joe can’t blame the man for wanting to get revenge. It was all because of Joe that Dallas lost his career as a rodeo star, ending up in prison. But Dallas also blames Joe for the death of his father, his brother, and for sending his mother to the pen as a quadriplegic. Joe feels somewhat guilty about all of that. It was self-defense, but nevertheless, he can see the man’s point of view. When Joe’s daughters are threatened he knows he will do whatever it takes to save his family from Cates’ revenge.
Meanwhile, Joe is looking for a well-organized ring of poachers. For months now he’s gotten reports of animals killed out of season and without permits but so far he hasn’t caught up with them. By the time he reaches the site all that is left is tire tracks and kill guts.
This book was a quick read because I kept wondering what would happen next. Lots of action in this tale of the wild, wild west. This is the first of CJ Box’s novels that I’ve read, but will definitely read more.

The Moth Catcher, by Ann Cleeves

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Published 2015
Characters: Vera Stanhope, detective
Holly and Joe, her asssistants
Lizzie Redhead, a young offender whose parents live in the converted farmhouse near where the murders take place
Percy, a local man is driving home from the pub when he stops to answer the call of nature. Off the side of the road he finds the body of a young man, a house-sitter for the big house, Gilswick Hall, whose owners are visiting Australia where they are about to become grand-parents. Vera Stanhope arrives on the scene and then takes Percy to the home he shares with his daughter Susan. She goes into the big house once a week to clean and has a key, which Vera takes, and with Joe they head to the house itself for clues to the identity of the deceased. They let themselves in through the kitchen and explore the area, only to find the body of another, older man in the apartment where the house sitter lived. Both of these men turn out to be avid students of moths and at first the team can find no other connection between the two. The nearest inhabitants to the crime scene are some retired couples who live in an old farm house that’s been converted to modern apartments. Lizzie Redhead’s parents live in one apartment and they are anxiously awaiting her return home from prison. Lizzie had served time for attacking a young woman with a knife and her parents are understandably uneasy about having her back home with them, although they love their daughter, they don’t know how to handle her. She was locked up when the murders took place, but she may have known the killer.

The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton

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Published 2013
This is a long story, over 700 pages, which takes place in New Zealand during the time of the gold rush. As one might imagine there’s plenty of wheeling and dealing and added to it are some tales of the opium trade, its origins in China and a few of the men, both English and Chinese, who were caught up in it there. In this story they brought the trade with them to New Zealand.
What a tangled web the lust for gold is in Catton’s story. Walter Moody, a well-educated young man from England, is newly arrived on the coast and has had a very rough crossing, one so rough he feels lucky to be alive. Still stunned by the ordeal and by a man, phantom or real, he still can’t make out, he makes his way to the smoking room at the Crown Hotel. Unbeknownst to him, a dozen local men have gathered for a meeting about the death of Crosbie Wells, a local hermit. At the same time the wealthy prospector Emory Stains has disappeared and is feared dead. On the same day Anna Wetherell, the most popular whore in town is beaten so severely she collapses and ends up in jail, which it turns out is a far better place to be than the local hospital. A fortune in gold is found Crosbie Wells’ cabin after his death, and a smaller amount of gold is found sewn into the seams of Anna’s dress. Moody learns bits and pieces of the story and gets drawn into it further by relating that he was brought to shore by a ship captained by Francis Carver, who was Emory Staines’ business partner. The characters are inviting and the story kept me looking forward to my next chapter.
Ms. Catton includes in the book illustrations and mentions of astrological signs and meanings that I admit were completely lost on me. I know that for someone who keeps up with astrology more than I do, the novel would take on a whole new depth of meaning, but I managed to enjoy the book immensely without it.

Fatal Pursuit, by Martin Walker

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Published 2016
This novel takes place in St. Denis in the Dordogne in France and incorporates a wonderful rural life of friends, family and especially food. Horses and dogs, ducks, chickens and geese, especially geese, have their place as well. Bruno, chief of police is called on at the last moment to navigate for his friend, Annette in a cross-country auto race which brings visitors in the form of expensive cars and the foreigners who race them to their quiet village. Two of these foreigners are hot on the trail of an unbelievably valuable Bugatti race car which disappeared near the village during WWII. While Bruno goes about his daily routine of dealing with petty thieves, truant teenagers and exercising his horse, Hector and Bassett hound Balzac, he comes across clues to the automobile’s fate. Meanwhile a new love interest enters his life in the form of a young lady home from London to visit her parents who are feuding with their wealthy relative over property rights and whether the area will host luxury apartments or stay the rural countryside they prefer. Bruno’s old flame Isabelle returns with evidence that links the race drivers to international money laundering and terrorist support.
A fun and well written novel, with so many elements that I enjoy: gardening, cooking, farm animals, horses and dogs, and mystery as well. I plan on reading other novels in the Bruno, Chief of Police series soon.

Surrender, New York, by Caleb Carr

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Published 2016

Characters:

Dr. Trajan Jones, psychological profiler
Dr. Michael Li, trace evidence expert
Clarissa Jones, Trajan’s great aunt
Marcianna, Trajan’s ‘wild African dog’, which is another name for a cheetah
Lucas, Derek and Amber, locals whose parents have left them for a better life
 
I’m not really sure if there’s such a place as Surrender, New York, or if there is, it is anything like the town described in this novel. There, Dr. Trajan Jones, a psychological profiler and Dr. Mike Li, a trace evidence expert, are called in to assist in what looks like a murder investigation. A ‘throwaway’ child’s body is discovered in an abandoned house, but the doctors are not convinced that it was murder. A couple of local law enforcement officers call in the doctors because they have doubts about the official cause of death too. Is it a suicide? Or is it murder. Dr. Jones and Dr. Li had illustrious careers in New York City before running afoul of some big time politicians who effectively ended their careers in forensics in the big city. They have retreated to Aunt Clarissa’s dairy farm in upstate New York and there they teach online courses in criminal profiling. They set up shop in an old war plane housed in a hangar that belonged to Trajan Jones’ grandfather. A nearby enclosure houses Dr. Jones’ rescued cheetah, Marcianna who endured torture and abuse at a now-defunct petting zoo. They keep themselves to themselves but soon become involved with a couple of live throwaway children, Lucas and Derek. When Lucas’ parents up and left he went to live with his blind older sister, Ambyr. Later on she took in his friend Derek and became the boys guardian. The doctors begin to realize that there’s something of an epidemic of throwaway children. They are left behind when their parents, many of whom become addicted to drugs after failing to find sustainable work in the area, leave for warmer climes. When the team is called in they soon realize that this is not the first death, but one in a string of deaths of these unfortunate young kids. The doctors recruit Lucas and Derek to try to find out about other abandoned kids at their school in hopes that some questions that came about as a result of their highly professional forensic skills have uncovered. Trajan and Mike come to believe that the string of deaths are suicides, that the children have been lured to New York City by someone, or a group of someones, and that only after they make the trip do they return to upstate New York and end their lives.

The tale is fairly long and complex but well worth the read. No easy solutions are found in Surrender, New York.