A Winter Grave

Peter May has long been one of my favourite crime writers. I especially enjoyed The Lewis Trilogy and The Enzo Papers. His new book, A Winter Grave, is what is called a stand-alone title. He has written others, not in a series, and I have read some of them, Coffin Road, in particular, stands out. In this story, we meet Detective Inspector Cameron Brodie. Based in Glasgow, not the sort of cop that I usually meet in the crime novels I read. He is big, rough around the edges, and sometimes quite brutal. As the book opens, Brodie is in court. He has been caught bashing a suspect and is in trouble. On top of that, he has just had tests for medical problems concerning him. After Brodie is called into the boss’s office, he is told he will not be charged with the offence but will be sent to the north to investigate the death of an investigative journalist. Brodie says he can’t go as he hasn’t received the results of his tests. However, after an event in which he is implicated, Brodie changes his mind about going. Another reason he was reluctant to take the job is because his estranged daughter, Addie, works in a weather station near where the body was found.

In fact, it was Addie who found the body. Addie refused anything to do with Brodie after her mother’s death, which she blames him for. The story of Brodie, Addie and Mel runs through the book, which is sombre. Brodie arrives in the north with a daughter who won’t speak to him, a corpse that has been frozen in an ice shelf, and little does he know, more deaths to come. This is an ecological thriller set in 2051, where warnings of a climate change catastrophe have long been ignored. Don’t let the climate change storyline put you off. It is a great crime story, with a twist at the end which I didn’t see coming,
but then again, I usually don’t. If you like this, I suggest The Lewis Trilogy, especially if you long to go to those wonderful islands, which, unfortunately, I will only find on tv and, of course, in books.

Apart from crime, I have just finished reading all the books by Elizabeth Strout, probably best known for her Lucy Barton books. I came across Strout some time ago. I read Amy and Isabelle, Abide With Me and The Burgess Boys, and then I read Olive Kitteridge, and that was when I discovered how incredibly talented this writer is. Olive Kitteridge is a wonderful book. I really loved it, and sad to say, I kind of identified with Olive, who really wasn’t a very nice person. I think my favourite Lucy Barton title is Lucy by the Sea, where Lucy is taken by her ex-husband to Maine to escape from the pandemic. During their time away, Lucy discovers that these long quiet days inspire contemplation of the past and looking at the possibilities of the future. Another title, Anything is Possible, looks at Lucy’s life as a child in Amgash, Illinois. How Lucy survives her terrible home life, her unloving mother, and the lack of any kind of stimulation to become a successful New York Writer is a story of resilience and courage. This book is like a series of short stories, telling of the happenings in the small town in nine chapters. One of the things I like about Strout’s novels is that all her characters have a guest appearance in the books. There is mention of Olive Kitteridge, who hasn’t changed much, if at all, and Lucy becomes friendly with one of the Burgess boys when staying in Maine. These books have been called small masterpieces, and I couldn’t agree more. I love smart and consider her books to be treasured, kept, and reread on the day when something special is required. Strout won the Pulitzer Prize for Olive Kitteridge, which was turned into an award-winning mini-series, and the book topped the New York Times best-seller list.