Art and Crime: So Much To Love
A crime writers' group and two art themed books have my attention this month.
Crime Writers Unite
Have you ever heard of The Detection Club? During the golden age of crime fiction1, author Anthony Berkeley began hosting dinner parties with other British crime writers to combat the loneliness of the writing life. These dinner parties morphed into the formation of The Detection Club in 1930 with 26 founding members including Agatha Christie, Dorthy Sayers, and GK Chesterton. Before joining, invited members are required to take the following oath:
“Do you promise that your detectives shall well and truly detect the crimes presented to them, using those wits which it may please you to bestow upon them, and not placing reliance on, nor making use of, Divine Revelation, Feminine Intuition, Mumbo Jumbo, Jiggery-Pokery, Coincidence, or Act of God?”
Current members include Ann Cleeves, Val McDermid, Len Deighton, Ian Rankin, and Peter James. They currently meet for dinner three times a year. Wouldn’t you like to be a fly on the wall at one of those events? If you are interested in reading more, check out The Golden Age of Murder, written by current club president Martin Edward. I will also put a plug in for Brian Stevenson’s newest novel Everyone on this Train is a Suspect. This “locked room” mystery takes place on The Ghan as it crosses Australia North to South. The cast of characters are a group of mystery writers brought together as part of a crime writing festival aboard the train. These writers get along far less well than those in The Detection Club and Stevenson often breaks the fourth wall, talking to the reader about the rules of writing detective stories and what is or isn’t allowed. It is cleverly plotted and great fun.
I fell in love with this incredibly bookish wallpaper this week. Amy Whyte is a treasure: she is co-owner of Lucketts Store2 and I have had the pleasure of working for her at Lucketts’ Holiday House as well. She has an incredible eye and her home is absolutely swoon-worthy. Now I just need to figure out a place in my home for this bookish wallpaper.
I came across this ode to libraries and the power of books via Joel Miller. Miller writes the excellent Miller's Book Review. He is thoughtful about books and reading and writes interesting reviews about titles that are often hidden gems. Just click on the graphic below and prepare to have your heart warmed.
Bookish Links and News
I saw that the iconic Vromans independent bookstore in Pasadena California is up for sale along with its smaller shops. This is a really amazing indie bookstore that has stood the test of time. Hoping they find the right buyers.
HarperCollins reported increased profits last year due to digital sales- especially audiobooks. Digital sales increased 15% compared to the previous year “driven by strong market growth for downloadable audiobook sales, as well as the contribution from a new Spotify partnership”. Audio books now account for half of all digital revenues! Time for my PSA: You can support your favorite local bookstore when you listen to books through Libro.FM. The monthly membership is the same price as Audible and your money won’t go directly to
BezosAmazon!!!Update: The next in Louise Penny’s Gamache series, The Grey Wolf will be out October 29th. And, in case you missed it, Penny’s Paris apartment is for sale. This sweet pied-à-terre will run you a bit over seven figures, but the location is perfect!
Recent Reads
The Curse of Pietro Houdini will stick with me for a long time. This World War 2 novel is set in Italy where Houdini is trying to protect art from both Hitler and allied bombing raids. It's a “found family” story as a 14 year old orphan is taken in by Houdini as well. It's a “journey story” where a cast of misfits travels together to escape certain death. There is even a heroic mule named Ferrari. There are so many plot points and yet all are done well. This book has a light tone at times making me smile or laugh and the heaviness of a war story, where people are suffering and must make terrible choices to survive. This new release is a uniquely wonderful story and I hope it gets discovered by a lot of readers.
The Connellys of County Down is Tracey Lange’s sophomore novel; her 2021 debut We are the Brennans was very well received though I didn’t read it. This family novel that centers around three siblings is riveting. The main character, Tara, is returning home after spending 18 months in prison on drug charges. She lives with her older sister, younger brother, and nephew. Her sister is focused on schedules, rules, and control; her single parent brother is struggling to keep his head above water. He also suffers from the effects of a traumatic brain injury. Tara is a complicated but likable protaganist, she is smart but often doesn’t make the best decisions. This is not a book where huge events happen, you are witness to many small decisions that end up hurting rather than helping the situation. I was surprised how well the author drew me in and how much I cared about what happened to this family. This is not a suspense or thriller, yet I read it compulsively and could not put it down. To be honest, I found these siblings far more interesting and engaging than those in last year’s big hit Hello Beautiful.
The Art Thief is an excellent narrative nonfiction story. As I have mentioned before, I love books centered around art and art history and this one is all that and more. Michael Finkle (who wrote The Stranger in the Woods, another book I absolutely loved) tells the true story of Stéphane Breitwieser and his girlfriend Anne-Catherine Kleinklaus. A serial art thief, he completed over two hundred heists in an eight year period—in museums and cathedrals all over Europe. The estimated value of the stolen art is over a billion dollars. And what is also amazing is that he didn’t steal to resell or for money, he stole to keep the objects and admire them himself. This book is a fascinating look at how he pulled off the heists, the importance of the art that is taken, and the psychology behind his behavior. The reader knows that Breitwieser eventually gets caught since there is a book about him, but how everything unravels is also fascinating. I read the hardcover book and loved the photo inserts of the art but this would also make a great listen.
One of my goals this year is to “read my own shelves” and that is harder than you might think since I work in a bookstore. In January I picked up True Biz, a Book of the Month selection from April 2022. This novel takes place at a residential deaf school. It follows three people: the school principal trying to keep the school afloat. a new student with a failed cochlear implant, and a star student who has struggles of his own. This book does an amazing job of educating the reader about being deaf and how even if you can read lips, sign, or possibly hear from an implant, there are still so many things to work through. All the perspectives brought something new to my attention for example the book also includeds sign language graphics. In general, I am not drawn to campus novels but this one was fascinating. I don’t think the story was perfect, but I did enjoy learning about the deaf community. The author brings so much nuance to her characters’ experience and I loved that.
The Golden Age of Detective Fiction was an era of classic murder mystery novels of similar patterns and styles published between the 1920's-30’s
If you come visit me, we will spend an afternoon at Lucketts for certain!
Be sure and let everyone know if you wallpaper a room, and….send pictures! The video was truly heartwarming. Just thinking about it reminds me of my local library growing up. I can still smell it. As always, thank you for all of the recommendations. Sue S.