Karl's Reading List

Published by Jonathan Cape/Random House: London, 2007. This is the third book I've read by Stephen L Carter , and he is becoming a favourite author of mine. His books are mystery/thrillers in the vein of John Grisham (who apparently is a fan), without so much of a focus on courtrooms. So far, so straightforward, but Carter takes this basic template to tell stories that have a bit "more to say" than your average book in this genre (though Grisham can also have 'something to say' as well!).  In this, his second novel, we follow Julia Carlyle, the wife of the ambitious and somewhat distant Lemaster Carlyle. Julia is a dean in the divinity department of a New England university, of which Lemaster is president - the couple are among the few African-Americans to live in the area. On the way home from a function one evening, they come across the body of Kellen Zant, a fellow professor and Julia's ex-lover (from before she knew Lemaster). This sets off a chain of e...

Published by Orion Books: London, England, 2014 (2013). Over the past few days Elise and I had a mini-holiday in Wellington, staying at the home of some friends. Rather than take a lot of reading material I looked through their bookshelf and ending up reading this novel. I had never heard of Linwood Barclay before, but he is a Canadian author, and writes a lot of detective stories. This is one such story, which borders on the 'thriller' genre in patches. Private detective Cal Weaver, stopped at traffic lights on a rainy night, is approached by a teenage girl wanting a lift. At first he refuses her, but when she admits to knowing Cal's now-deceased son Scott, Cal decides to pick her up. After a confusing set of circumstances Claire goes missing and now Cal is determined to figure out what happened to her. He must face off against a fairly corrupt police force, a killer on the loose, the antagonistic mayor of the town, and try to repair the relationship he has with his wife w...