Book Reviews SEPTEMBER 2020
Deep as Death by Katja Ivar (paperback £8.99) This is Helsinki, March 1953, an unusually long and cold winter, frozen seas everywhere. A young woman goes missing and this is a chance for Hella Mauzer, the first ever woman inspector in Helsinki, to prove herself. She is a heartbroken PI demoted from homicide, a department too busy to take on this case so she gets her chance. Then more women go missing and what begins as a taut whodunnit turns into something more tantalising. A good read especially for all Scandi crime fans out there.
The Beauty and the Terror: An Alternative History of the Italian Renaissance by Catherine Fletcher (hardback £25) Even the Introduction to this book, a glimpse into 1492, gave me a sense of immersion. The fascinating relationship between the Popes, Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain and their Inquisition, the persecution of the Jews throughout Europe, the political impact of Lorenzo de Medici’s death and the voyages of Christopher Columbus, all made me want to read on and discover the less well known stories that Fletcher promises to tell. I’m almost finished and am learning much about this turbulent and creative period and enjoying Fletcher’s gripping narrative voice.
The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo (paperback £8.99) This was the most enjoyable debut I read last year (in hardback). It’s a portrait of Marilyn and David Sorenson and their four daughters who are rocked by the arrival of a teenage boy secretly given up for adoption years earlier. A perfect summer read – I was sorry when I finished it.
18 LookLocal - SEPTEMBER 2020
