Hello and welcome to the second edition of #BiteSizeSaturday! For those of you who missed last week’s episode: this is the space where I nibble down some novels for you until only their bite size core remains! Fun huh?! (The phrase “slap my lederhosen” springs to mind, but never mind that now 😉) As always, if you’re hungry for more, comment below or come find me on Twitter!
This week I want to tell you about some earlier work of two authors I have come to know and love this year: Will Carver and Antti Tuomainen (in related news: I have finally learned how to spell the man’s name, hallelujah!).
First up: The Man Who Died by Antti Tuomainen, translation by David Hackston, narration by Kris Dyer
Now I did warn you last week when I talked about Palm Beach Finland that Antti is addictive, and if you need proof of that: I flew through the Audible version of The Man Who Died at warp speed. Read at your own peril!
So what do we have here? A man full of toxins and desperate to find out how on earth that happened and who wants him dead and why, mushrooms, a missing sword, the man’s loving wife (or is she), a few Japanese guys, mushrooms, the man’s loyal employees (or are they), infatuation, mushrooms, an axe-wielding murderer in a sauna. And did I mention mushrooms? I swear, you cannot make this stuff up! Unless you’re Antti Tuomainen, obviously, then you can not only make this stuff up but do a mighty fine job of it and even make it believable in all its unbelievableness (Is that even a word? I don’t even care!).
Definitely recommended if you like your mysteries with a healthy dose of humour. And Finnish matsutakes. 💛💛💛💛💛
The other bite I have for you today is Girl 4 by Will Carver
Like so many of you, I absolutely devoured Good Samaritans. Or, perhaps more accurately, it devoured me, gobbled me up, spat me out, and left me feeling a bit like an addict gone told turkey. Then, last week, I just had to get my Will Carver fix, I had to, it couldn’t be helped. Lucky for me, Will Carver published an entire series before making his grand comeback with Good Samaritans. These series feature DI January David and Girl 4 is the first novel. Reminiscent of GS, this is a dark story about dysfunctional, somewhat sad characters (no one does dysfunctional characters like Will Carver, I’m sure), though the madness is somewhat more contained (and not a bottle of bleach in sight!). Jan David is a great protagonist, and so is Eames, our resident serial killer. But this wouldn’t be a Will Carver novel if everything was just as it seemed...
This was so addictive I wanted to dive into the second novel in the series right after I’d finished this one, but I was planning on reading Blue Night, and in the end, I stuck to my initial planning. I will definitely be back for more, though; I’m not finished with Jan, and I suspect he’s not finished with me either!
Highly recommended, especially if you like your murders with a few magic tricks.
💛💛💛💛