The Globe and Mail - Margaret Cannon Columns

CRIME BOOKS

Sat, 16 May 2009 00:00 EDT

CECILIAN VESPERSBy Anne Emery, ECW, 288 pages, $24.95Anne Emery has already won one Arthur Ellis Award for her first Monty Collins mystery, and this one should get her on the short list for another. Cecilian Vespers is slick, smart and populated with lively characters. It's also a nicely crafted mystery.

New in crime fiction

Fri, 15 May 2009 17:59 EDT

This week: Anne Emery's new Monty Collins mystery

CRIME BOOKS

Sat, 2 May 2009 00:00 EDT

DARKNESS AT THE STROKE OF NOONBy Dennis Richard Murphy, HarperCollins, 380 pages, $21.95There's good and bad news for readers of this terrific Canadian thriller set in the Arctic. The good news is that Dennis Murphy, a documentary filmmaker and television writer, has created a cast of marvellous characters and placed them in a meaningful, up-to-date plot in a unique setting. Fast-paced and at times very funny, Darkness at the Stroke of Noon is sure to be short-listed for an Arthur Ellis Award. The bad news is that there will not be a sequel. Murphy died shortly before his first and only novel was published.

New in crime fiction

Fri, 1 May 2009 16:49 EDT

This week: Dennis Murphy's one great novel

CRIME BOOKS

Sat, 18 Apr 2009 00:00 EDT

A QUIET FLAMEBy Philip Kerr, Putnam, 389 pages, $33.50There are few authors who can set a scene like Philip Kerr. He's a master at conjuring the place and the time. That talent, and his ability to create unforgettable and unusual characters (I loved the smart, killer office building in The Grid) make his novels a pleasure to read. And in all his fine books, no character has ever held a reader like policeman Bernie Gunther, unwilling participant in and witness to the rise and destruction of Nazi Germany. Bernie's adventures were supposed to be a trilogy and end with the end of the Second World War, but Kerr brought him back for a fourth book, and now for a fifth.

CRIME BOOKS

Sat, 4 Apr 2009 00:00 EDT

ABOUT FACEBy Donna Leon, Atlantic Monthly Press, 288 pages, $33.50There are now 18 books in the Commissario Guido Brunetti series, and while the Commissario never seems to age or change, Italy does. That's always the subtext of Donna Leon's brilliantly conceived works. Brunetti does his job while the world around him seems always swirling out of control. There isn't a weak book in this series, and About Face is definitely one of the best of the lot.

New in crime fiction

Fri, 3 Apr 2009 17:55 EDT

This week: Italy, France, China and the North Pole

CRIME BOOKS

Sat, 28 Mar 2009 00:00 EDT

BLOOD SAFARIBy Deon Meyer, Random House Canada, 352 pages, $29.95Every so often I pick up a book and simply devour it from first page to final paragraph. Blood Safari is one of those. It packs in South African history, culture, complexities and a finely woven plot, and even manages a very sweet little romance. If you're looking for a weekend escape, this is your book.

New in crime fiction

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 16:57 EDT

This week: An evil history, a missing child and a dead witch