Book 9 of 2019 - "BLUE BIRD ,BLUE BIRD " ,by Attica Locke.This is also my read for the #ReadingWomanChallenge for the the prompt #mystery or #thrillerBook 9 of 2019 - "BLUE BIRD ,BLUE BIRD " ,by Attica Locke.This is also my read for the #ReadingWomanChallenge for the the prompt #mystery or #thriller by a #woc. 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹 I completed this yesterday night and I am speechless and at a loss of words on how to describe this wonderful crime novel.Or is it indeed a crime novel!!! The plot is straightforward -A coloured man's body is discovered in a bayou behind Geneva Sweet' s cafe in Lark,Texas .This is followed by the discovery of a white woman's body two days later .Texas Ranger Darren Mathews(who happens to be our hero) , begins to investigate the case and the rest of the plot is how he discovers the perpetrator . 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹 Attica Locke's writing is visceral and transports the reader to the American South ,specifically Texas.The murder mystery serves as a platform for a story that discusses so many things -Racism,prejudice and Family .The fact is that ,the heart of this book is about race and the equation between the coloured people and the Whites of the American south.An uncomfortable equation that is tough to decipher and understand.The story tries to answer the question of what happens when boundaries are crossed , during a war and people instinctively move towards each other ignoring the rules set by certain sections of society.There are innumerable questions raised in this book to which answers ,I guess will never be known.Don't read this if you are looking for a racy thriller or murder mystery .This book is in essence, a silent contemplation of racism ,its connection to how criminal justice is served in America and also a tribute to the spirit of the coloured people of Texas. A boldly written novel and I loved it . 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹 Do have a glass of cold lemonade and listen to any country blues album by #lighteninghopkins when you read this .You will understand what mean 😊...more
Spite,malevolence,animosity,hostility, jealousy,hatred,bitterness,revenge. My eternal search for the perfect murder mystery that will thrill me to the tSpite,malevolence,animosity,hostility, jealousy,hatred,bitterness,revenge. My eternal search for the perfect murder mystery that will thrill me to the toes led me to the shores of Japanese murder fiction.This is my second Higashino novel ,the first being the critically acclaimed "The Devotion of Suspect X ".This is a well crafted novel by Higashino and he has explored "malice" at every possible level.We have two writers Hidaka who is extremely popular with bestsellers and Nonoguchi ,a less popular children's writer.Then the famous Hidaka is found dead in his writing room by Nonuguchi and he has left an unfinished novel.This brings in the third character ,the detective Kaga who is called to investigate the crime and who also happens to know Nonoguchi from years before.Thats all there is to it - such a simple plot.But Higashino has weaved a Freudien tale and we slowly realise that all is not what it seems to be. Nonoguchi was in love with Hidaka's dead wife and there is childhood rivalry,bullying,plagiarism added to the fact that there is a constant cat and mouse game between the detective and Nonoguchi. Higashino shows us that hatred and jealousy of the heart have the capability of growing over the years and festering into un healing wounds which would lead to unholy acts like murder and that perhaps is the greatest danger of malice . Recommended to all lovers of mystery!!!!...more
One of my favorite crime novels which no crime fiction aficionado should miss 🙂.The Alienist is a historic crime thriller .Criminal Psychologists ,thoOne of my favorite crime novels which no crime fiction aficionado should miss 🙂.The Alienist is a historic crime thriller .Criminal Psychologists ,those days were called as Alienists and hence the title.The story begins with Theodore Roosevelt 's death on Jan 8, 1916 and we have a group of individuals reminiscing events they had participated with him.The motley group comprises a news reporter John Moore and our alienist Laszlo Krieszler .Slowly,their memories go back to 1869when Roosevelt was police commissioner and how they solved a serie s of murders together in Lower Manhattan.The city's first police officer also joins them in the chase.. The book enlightens us on how the modern fingerprinting systems evolved in those days and more importantly on how people viewed psychiatric treatment.The narrative is eerie ,chilly and bleak just as the weather in New York is described in the book .The book also explores the idea that all criminal behavior has psychological roots and is more instinctive than intuitive.ONCE you dive into the story ,the book simply can't be put down ....more
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