14/04/16: Dorothy L. Hughes – In a Lonely Place (1947)

Absolutely wonderful. A hardboiled crime novel written from an unusual perspective. It's hard to say much about it without giving away the plot, but the author sustains the tension brilliantly across 186 pages. Hughes makes you empathise closely with the characters, so this ends up being as much a tragedy as a mystery. It has much of the atmosphere of Raymond Chandler, etc, but with an additional emotional quality.

08/04/16: Mario Benedetti – The Truce: The Diary of Martín Santomé (1960)

I’m not sure if it's because of the translation to English or if this was true of the original Spanish text, but there's something slightly awkward about the writing. In a way, this works to highlight the awkwardness of the social setting – a middle-aged accountant falls for a colleague half his age. The author explores that situation in a reasonably compelling manner. The novel takes the form of a diary, and that definitely adds readability.


The one element that doesn't quite ring true is that the narrator is aged 49 (then turns 50), but the book is preoccupied with his retirement and old age. Maybe things were very different when this was published (1960), but 49 doesn't seem old enough for him to feel and act the way he does about his age. That aside, it's a moving story that offers insights into what it means to work, live and love.

05/04/16: Lawrence Block – Hit Me (2012)

Five unrelated stories presented as a novel. Some reviewers disliked that approach, but I'm not sure it matters: each story quickly hooks you in and it's all written beautifully.

Much of the brilliance of this book comes from the juxtaposition of a ruthless killer also being a stamp collector – the two aspects of Keller's life somehow working together. There are funny and disturbing moments: just as you think it's about to get cosy, the book shocks you again. Block is excellent at moral ambiguity, making you somehow sympathise with Keller the hired killer.

If there's a flaw it's that Keller's wife (Julia) seems too good to be true: not only does she tolerate his "work", but she also finds it makes him more attractive, which doesn't quite ring true. Other than that, Hit Me is hard to fault.