The Wilder Aisles

It has been a while since I read a Fred Vargus and I’d forgotten how good they are. A colleague gave me a copy of the latest and I was delighted to find that Vargus has not lost her touch with her latest—This Poison will Remain. I had forgotten how much I loved Commissaire Jean-Baptiste Adamsburg, head of the Paris Serious Crimes Squad. Another of my favourite fictional policemen, who love their food and wine, and rely on instinct and feelings to solve crime. Much against his will Adamsburg is called back to Paris’ 13th arrondissement from a holiday in Iceland to clear up the attempted murder of a woman by her husband—a liar and a cheat, and altogether highly disgusting person he takes great delight in charging. On returning to the squad room, he finds a really obnoxious smell belonging to a large moray eel, that one of his idiosyncratic colleagues Voisenet has tucked under his desk. Adamsburg, who rarely misses anything, notices that Voisenet is cagey about what’s on his computer, and he asks resident computer whiz, Froissy, to investigate—quietly. What she finds is the story of three elderly people dying from a spider bite—the recluse, Loxosceles Reclusa, a shy, timid brown spider, that rarely bites humans. When more people die from the spider’s bite, Adamsburg joins Voisenet in thinking something odd is afoot. What follows is a weird and wonderful journey into the world of spiders, the medieval female ‘recluse’, rape, murder, terrible crimes against women and historic child abuse. This incredible journey leads the squad up many a false inlet, like Magellan trying to find his way through to the Pacific Ocean. Magellan never stopped trying, so Adamsburg tells his officers that they must not stop either. This reference to Magellan is charmingly explained in the story. False trails abound, and Adamsberg is hampered by an unexpected betrayal coming from his second-in-command, Danglard’s, and to his great shame, is duped by the one person he never suspected. This is a great read, full of great characters, including Mathias, an archeologist from a previous series called The Three Evangelists, which I also highly recommend.

Recently I recommended a book called The Day of the Accident by Nuala Ellwood—a thriller about a woman who wakes from a coma to find her world completely unrecognisable. I really enjoyed this book, and chose the book I’m currently reading because it looked to be exploring similar themes. And so far I looked Away by Jane Corry is paying off. Young grandmother, Ellie looks after her grandson Josh every Monday. She knows that her husband, Roger, has been unfaithful—but he assures her that his indiscretion is over. One Monday Ellie is with Josh and Roger when hubbie gets a call from his supposed ex. A betrayed Ellie looks away for a moment, and her world changes forever. The book is not just about Josh’s disappearance—Ellie also has secrets, which she is desperate to keep close. This, like Day of the Accident is a small (B format) paperback. It surprises me that Penguin didn’t publish them in the large format edition, as in my opinion they are as good as, if not better, than some of the more well-known authors released in ‘Trade’ format. A good read, although I’m not sure about the title. Janice Wilder