Day: December 2, 2011

Review: U is for Undertow – Sue Grafton

Esta entrada es bilingüe, desplazarse hacia abajo para ver la versión en castellano.

Pan Books, 2010. First published in Great Britain 2009 by Macmillan. 484 pages.ISBN 978-0-330-51991-5.

‘Most people think of the effluence as a riptide, but the proper term is “rip current”. Tides are the function of the moon’s gravitational pull. A rip current is a treacherous outflow that runs in a narrow line perpendicular to the beach, sometimes extending as far as twenty-five hundred feet. The term “undertow,” used to describes the same phenomenon, is a misnomer as well. A rip current moves along the surface of the water, a function of the hidden shape of the shore itself. This one, like the rip current that swept Sutton’s mother to her death, was an artifact of the same attempt by the city engineers to create a safe harbor where there was none before. As with so much in life, good intentions often generate unexpected results.’

U is for Undertow is the twenty-first instalment in the Alphabet series featuring Kinsey Millhone.

‘I’m a private detective, female, age thirty-sevem, with my thirty-eight birthday coming up in a month. Having been married and divorced twice, I’m now happily single and expect to remain so for life. I have not children thus far and I don’t anticipate bearing any. … I work solo out of a rented bungalow in Santa Teresa, California,….. My office if off the beaten path and I seldom have a client appear unannounced,….’

But on April 6, 1988, a client shows up without notice. A young man who claims to have remembered a weird experience. As a child he saw two men burying a mysterious bundle about the same time that a little girl was kidnapped. The girl was never found despite the ransom paid. He is convinced now that the two events are connected and he is willing to pay Kinsey to check it out. As the investigation unfolds, she realises that Michael Sutton, such is the man’s name, has had troubles with the truth in the past. In essence he’s the boy who cried wolf. Is this story real or is it just one more in a long series of lies?

The story moves back and forth between two different points in time, the events in 1967 and the present day (1988). It has a number of subplots and some interesting discoveries about Kinsey’s childhood. In fact, this book is about family relationships. The narrative uses different points of view, a mechanism properly used to increase our interest. It’s nicely written, the characters are well drawn but it has a number of flaws in the plot and some pages are superfluous. Anyway I was glad to have read it. I quite enjoyed it.

This book has long been lying on my bookshelf. I found the right time to pick it up after reading the excellent reviews by Bernadette and Maxine. They both agree that it’s not necessary to have read the previous books to fully enjoy this one. I count this book as the second one covering the North America leg of my participation in the 2011 Global Reading Challenge.

U is for Undertow has been reviewed by Bernadette at Reactions to Reading, Maxine at Petrona, and reviewing the evidence.

Penguin

Pan Macmillan

Sue Grafton official webpage 

Sue Grafton at detnovel.com

Q&A: Mystery Writer Sue Grafton

 

U de Ultimatum de Sue Grafton

‘La mayoría de la gente piensa en el reflujo del mar como si se tratara de una corriente marina, pero el término adecuado es “corriente de resaca”. Las mareas son función de la atracción gravitatoria de la luna. Una corriente de resaca es un flujo de agua traicionero que se extiende por una línea estrecha perpendicular a la playa, en ocasiones alcanza una extensión de dos mil quinientos pies. El término “resaca”, utilizado para describir el mismo fenómeno, es también un término equívoco. Una corriente de resaca circula por la superficie del agua, en función de la forma oculta que tiene la orilla. Ésta, como la corriente de resaca que arrastró a la madre de Sutton hasta su muerte, era un instrumento creado por el esfuerzo de los ingenieros de la ciudad con el objetivo de construir un puerto seguro donde no lo había antes. Como con tantas cosas en la vida, las buenas intenciones suelen generar resultados inesperados’. (Mi traducción libre).

U de ultimatum es la entrega número veintiuna de la serie protagonizada por Kinsey Millhone, el  Alfabeto del Crimen.

“Soy investigadora privada y tengo 37 años, pero cumpliré 38 dentro de un mes. Tras haberme casado y divorciado dos veces, ahora estoy felizmente soltera y espero seguir así de por vida. De momento no he tenido hijos y no espero tenerlos ….. Trabajo sola en un bungalow alquilado en Santa Teresa, California, …. Mi despacho está en un lugar apartado y en raras ocasiones un cliente aparece sin previo aviso …”

Pero el 6 de abril de 1988, un cliente se presenta sin previo aviso. Un hombre joven que afirma haber recordado una extraña experiencia. De niño vio a dos hombres enterrando un misterioso paquete, al mismo tiempo una niña habia sido secuestrada. La niña nunca fue encontrada, a pesar del rescate pagado. Él está convencido ahora de que los dos sucesos están conectados y está dispuesto a pagar a Kinsey para comrobarlo. A medida que la investigación avanza ella se da cuenta de que Michael Sutton, tal es el nombre del joven, ha tenido problemas con la verdad en el pasado. En esencia, él es el chico que gritó que viene el lobo. ¿Es real esta historia o es sólo una más en una larga serie de mentiras?

La historia se mueve entre dos momentos de tiempo diferentes, los acontecimientos de 1967 y el día de hoy (1988). Tiene una serie de subtramas y algunos descubrimientos interesantes sobre la infancia de Kinsey. De hecho, este libro trata sobre las relaciones familiares. La narración utiliza diferentes puntos de vista, un mecanismo utilizado correctamente para aumentar nuestro interés. Está muy bien escrita, los personajes estan bien caracterizados, pero la trama tiene algunos fallos y le sobran algunas páginas. De todos modos me alegro de haberlo leído. Lo disfruté bastante.

Este libro ha estado descansando durante mucho tiempo en mi estantería. Encontré el momento adecuado para leerlo después de ver las excelentes críticas de Bernadette y Maxine. Ambas coinciden en que no es necesario haber leído los libros anteriores para disfrutar plenamente de este.

U de ultimatum ha sido reseñado en Novela negra con lunares y en Me gustan los libros. 

Tusquets Editores

Glacé – Frozen

Bajo el hielo (Roca, 2011), original title Glacé, translated from the French by Dolors Gallart is the debut novel of Bernard Minier and has just been published by Roca editorial. It was a great success since its release in February 2011, and was awarded with the Prize to the best novel at Cognac Crime Fiction (Polar) Festival.

Synopsis: December 2008. The setting, a deep valley in the Pyrenees. On their way to work, the employees of an hydroelectric plant have discovered the beheaded body of a horse hanging in the frozen side of the mountains.
The investigation of this gruesome discovery is assigned to Captain Servaz, an hypochondriac in his forties who always behaves instinctively. This is the strangest case in his career. What reason would anyone have to kill a horse, two thousand meters above sea level? Everything indicates that this is only the starting point of a long nightmare. That same day, a young psychiatrist starts working in the local psychiatric hospital. (My free translation).

November Readings

My reading pace in November was slow. Have only completed four books. I liked them all but Trackers and Outrage will probably be among my favourites for the year. If I have to choose only one this will be Trackers. Really outstanding.

Have also completed the 2011 Aussie Author Challenge (Tourist level) and the 2011 Global Reading Challenge (The Medium Challenge level).

Have ordered two books:

I’m currently reading an AUE of A Vine in the Blood, by Leighton Gage who was kind enough to send me. Thank you Leighton.

And I’m planning to read next:

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