carbon14 Blog

There's not enough english language crime fiction featuring French detectives.

The French have a different approach to crime, their entire legal system operates in a way quite different to our own, and though you might not expect it, the difference shows through in the way that crimes are investigated. To be completely honest, Maigret by Georges Simenon is most likely the only French crime fiction that most people are aware of.

Louise Penny's work is set in Quebec a perfect excuse to reveal the Sureté in action within a english speaking world. And it's refreshing to see. Of course Quebec is bilingual but the French that creeps into the work is neither intrusive nor difficult and lends a authentic sound to the proceedings.

Her debut novel, 'Still Life' is extremely well executed. It has a confidence about it that belies the fact that it has a so far shallow background. Many debut's - especially those that introduce us to characters who will re-occur - are noticeably tentative when compared to the works that come later, but with this novel, you could be forgiven for going back to the bookshop to look for earlier works featuring the redoubtable Inspector Gamache.

Penny has created an entire microcosmos here, in one fell swoop. Not just the brilliant and caring Armand Gamache, but a beautiful setting - the village of Three Pines - filled with well fleshed out characters and in an audacious stroke, the monstrous Yvette Nichol.

The follow-up to 'Still Life' is 'Dead Cold' and brings Gamache back to the same village of Three Pines, little more than 1 year after the events of the first novel. Here Penny shows that she can keep up the pace, her richly drawn story brings out ever more detail in the characters and location. This book is everything that the first was, yet slightly more-so.

Three Pines is a glorious setting for a fresh approach to the village murder mystery, and I look forward to the third in the series, 'The Cruellest Month' when it hits the shelves this autumn.

This weekend I cooked what's probably the most complex dessert I've ever attempted.

I got a copy of James Martin's Desserts for my birthday and it's a sweet looking book.

On Thursday, a friend brought round 3 boxes of blackberries, a bottle of Creme de Cassis, some double cream and a jar of glucose syrup - along with a birthday present of a cake ring. A not exactly subtle hint that she would like me to make the Delice au Cassis recipe.

Well it's not really the right time of year for fresh blackcurrants, so the blackberries had to do instead and I didn't need to alter the recipe to make it work. I suspect that the blackcurrants would have given a greater intensity of flavour to the finished pud, but it worked a treat.

Sometimes a complicated recipe has just too much going on for you to get to grips with it first time. This took me a large part of one day to complete, but despite the marathon it worked flawlessly. This is really the sign I think of a good cookery book. My first recipe from the book, the most complex recipe in the book, and it just works.

This was the first time I've used a sugar thermometer, real vanilla, leaf gelatine, stock syrup or Italian meringue and yet the step by step instructions did the job.

This is a really good book to drool over, it's proper food pr0n. But it's also a very practical and workable recipe book.

Try it. And when you've got a day to spare, try the Delice.

My my, I managed to finish two books this weekend.

The Lost Colony is not brand new, but it is the latest in the series of children's books that began with Artemis Fowl

This time, child genius Artemis Fowl may have met his match. A young girl who might just be cleverer than he is. She's determined to get her hands on a Demon and if she does, it could cause untold havoc above and below ground. Only Artemis, his bodyguard Butler and fairy private eye Holly Short could possibly stop her. But can they?

Eoin Colfer has created a fantastic fantasy world, richly populated by a hidden world of fairies, trolls, dwarfs and such like. This immensely readable book is a thrill-a-minute ride from beginning to end.

It will be a sad day when Artemis finally grows up.

Amongst my ever-growing collection of crime fiction, I have an extensive catalogue of Reginald Hill. One of the best British contemporary crime writers; his most popular characters are Andy Dalziel and Peter Pascoe. Almost his entire back catalogue featuring these two policemen has been translated to the screen with great success, and since the point where they ran out of novels to dramatise, the on-screen and paper based lives of these two have diverged somewhat.

The Death of Dalziel is the latest novel from Hill and although his output seems to have slowed somewhat these last few years, the work that he's produced has grown increasingly complex and his knack for tight and intricate plotting has twisted ever tighter.

This book draws heavily on our contemporary fears of terrorism and the competence or otherwise of our security forces - or ‘the funny bu***rs’ as Dalziel calls them.

A gripping story has Andy Dalziel's protege Peter Pascoe struggling to stay objective while he investigates the terrorist explosion which has left the big man comatose and dying.

But - as ever - one of the strengths of this series from Hill is that this is never just about cops and robbers. Everyone we have met along the way is important to Hill, colleagues and families are not just bit part players. The fallout from crime is never limited to those firmly on the side of good or evil, it spreads - and the author is careful never to let us forget that.

A terrific read and a welcome addition to the story of this most popular crime fighting duo.

Magic is having something of a revival at the moment. There are two films about magicians doing the rounds, The Prestige and The Illusionist. I've not yet seen either, this is a book review.

I recently read two books about magicians:

Carter Beats the Devil by Glen David Gold

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke

Read more!