This Poison Will Remain

Finished June 25

This Poison Will Remain by Fred Vargas, translated by Siân Reynolds

This is the 11th book in the Commissaire Adamsberg series. Here Adamsberg is summoned back from Iceland for a case and is soon missing his son who stayed on there. He is at first dealing the case that recalled him, a hit and run death of a woman that has some subtlety to it, but that is dealt with fairly quickly. During that case, he has become aware both through the attention one of his staff, Voisenet, to some deaths due to a spider, one that is not typically deadly. This captures his attention, and he begins to gather information on the deaths himself. 

He also begins to realize that one of his own men is actively working against him, and applies himself to that puzzle. 

The spider case is quite interesting, and one that takes him from Paris to the south of France, where the deaths have occurred. He looks for links between the victims, and finds an interesting name that links the spider to some of the victims. As he looks deeper, he discovers other deaths that seem suspect when the link between the victims is known. He soon realizes that the group of men who are potential victims is narrowing with each death, and he puts some effort into protecting those remaining. 

He encounters and begins to consult with an amateur spider specialist, and finds her to be very helpful as the case progresses. 

As usual with this series, the unusual mental connections that questions that Adamsberg comes up with really make the story and are key to the plot. The side stories here, from the initial case, to the attempted betrayal of one his men, to the crime against another staff member, and to his own buried childhood memories all link through a common theme. 

This is a book that I read in small pieces as Vargas always leads me to go down other rabbit holes from her use of connections, quotations, and analogies. 

I also liked the appearance of one of the characters from a different, although linked series, Mathias from The Three Evangelists and a new connection to a character I love from Adamsberg's team. 

Always an educational read, this was also an interesting set of puzzles. 

If Only...

Finished September 4

If Only... by Mies van Hout, translated by David Colmer

This charming and vibrant picture book begins with a young child looking at a butterfly and wishing they could be that creature and move like that through the world. It then continues that idea with the butterfly looking at another small creature (a stick insect) and having a similar thought. The book continues through a wide variety of small creatures, each admiring something about another one, until it circles back to a creature looking at children. The pictures are colourful and intense and happy, with many of them intensely one colour (monochromatic) or close neighbours of colours (analogous) with just minor elements of a contrasting or complementary colour. This use of colour really adds to the appeal of the pictures.

At the end of the tale is a glossary of the creatures from the story, with small images of at least one example of each creature and a single sentence that gives some information on the nature of creature, including information on how they move, why they look the way they do, how they got the name they are commonly known by, where they live, or what they eat. 

Also at the back of the book is a helpful section on making collage images like some of the ones from the book. It gives a list of what is needed, and a easy to understand method of making art with collage and embellishing it. There is an additional sidebar for making self-painted paper to use for collage as well. 

I always enjoy the lovely books by this author and this one adds the fun element of small creatures that children are often fascinated by. 

Undercover Thriller

Finished March 29
The Likeness by Tana French
This is a long read, more than 400 pages, but an interesting one. Cassie Maddox is a detective in Dublin and she has recently moved from Murder to Domestic Violence following a difficult murder case that affected her psychologically. (See French's previous book In The Woods for that case.) Back when Cassie first started in the police force she did a spot of undercover work and this case leads her back to that.
Here, a young woman is found dead in an abandoned cottage in a rural area. The interesting things are that she is a dead ringer for Cassie, and she is living under the name Lexie Madison, a name Cassie used years ago when she was undercover. Cassie agrees to go undercover again as this young woman to see what led to her death.
Lexie lives with 4 other grad students in a house inherited by one of them. They are a close-knit group and operate more or less as a family. As Cassie takes on the role of Lexie, she finds herself seduced by the comfort of the situation, and must work hard to keep her mind on why she is there. We see things from Cassie's point of view and therefore are privy to her decision-making process as she determines what to share and what not to share with her superiors.
There are many tense moments and an interesting conclusion.

Thriller

Finished October 23
Say Goodbye by Lisa Gardner
This thriller features FBI Special Agent Kimberly Quincy, soon to become a mother. She is told a story by a prostitute, Delilah Rose, about a missing woman. She connects with Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent Sal Martignetti who has been collecting information on missing prostitutes for the last few months. As the two begin to compare notes, they find leads on the missing women.
Part of the book is also told from the point of view of a man who was kidnapped as a young boy and sexually abused by his captor. He has developed an intense interest in spiders, and this becomes part of the clues the two agents work with. There are many things going on in this book, and as the story progresses, the tension increases and I found myself gripped by the plot. Kimberly is also an interesting character, a self-admitted type A personality, driven by her work, and unsure of her readiness to raise a child. As she struggles with her issues, we see her as a human being as well as an investigator.