Library Limelights 254

Victor Methos. A Gambler’s Jury. USA: Thomas & Mercer, 2018.

A protagonist unlike any lawyer you’ve ever met, Danielle “Dani” Rollins works hard and drinks hard. Often using language rarely heard in courtrooms, she’s forthright and outspoken in defence of her criminal clients but also in the principle of justice. “The law” and justice are not necessarily the same thing in fictional Hoover County, Utah. When Dani takes on the case of Teddy Thorne, a mentally challenged teenager, all the odds are stacked against him. Three of his friends saw him hand eight kilos of cocaine to drug smuggler Zamora; a number of cops also witnessed the handover because they’d set up the bust, Zamora being a confidential informant for them. To Dani’s horror, the prosecutor decides Teddy will be charged as an adult instead of a juvenile, incurring a much heavier penalty. Judge Roscombe and everyone else in the system choose to believe that Teddy is capable of planning and executing such a crime.

To complete the misery, Teddy’s parents abandon him. And in adult prison, he would be at the mercy of heartless predators. Dani’s righteous wrath is vented in and out of the courtroom, especially when she discovers the judicial agenda behind the arrest. The story becomes a powerful exploration of ingrained racism and protection of privilege. A scene of one particular judge on the verge of dementia is both horrifying and hilarious in its condemnation of the system. Dani’s loyal investigator and best friend, Will, is her prime support. Personally she struggles with her continuing love for ex-husband Stefan who has moved on. “Heart on her sleeve” could be Dani’s trademark; she’s fierce and she can be outrageously funny. What a magnetic character! We need more of Dani, but alas, it’s probably a stand-alone novel?

One-liners

▪ “His official diagnosis is severe intellectual disability, but we don’t use those words around him,” she said, sensing my curiosity. (18)

▪ “Don’t let this case eat you up.” (175)

▪ I got the impression suddenly that I was a mouse in a very elaborate trap that had been set a long time ago. (202)

▪ It was like talking to someone who’d had his empathy surgically removed. (264)

▪ And there she sat, saying some of the most evil things I’d ever heard anyone say—a Nazi with a Chanel purse and a Fitbit on her wrist. (280)

Multi-liners

▪ Besides, on some days Will was the only noncriminal I dealt with. I needed that link to the outside world. (36-7)

▪ “You dropped him off at the shelter like a sack of garbage. What kind of person are you?” (104)

▪ He was a child in the body of an adult, and I wondered how many other people I’d met who I could say the same thing about. At least half the judges I knew. (109)

▪ They had influenced a judge to do what they wanted. There were so many judicial and ethical rules being broken right now I couldn’t even think straight. (148)

▪ Roscombe looked like he might soil himself. His face turned red and he barked at his bailiff, “Arrest her.” (149)

▪ “You’re quite witty. I’ve heard that about you. I advise you to use it sparingly in front of a jury.” (173)

Dani’s parents

I put on a gray suit with a white shirt and thought I looked like my father. I didn’t remember much about my father in those early years—mostly how little he was around. I was eight when he finally left, and I don’t remember being sad about it. My mother and I accepted it. At least I thought my mother had accepted it, until the day she abandoned me to the foster care system. (11)

Dani indicts

Judges did not fear lawyers; they did not fear politicians; they did not fear city councils or the general citizenry. The only thing they feared was bad press, because bad press would force those lawyers, politicians, city councils, and citizenry to really take a look and see if a judge needed to be removed. It was damn near impossible to remove a judge in the state of Utah, but enough bad press might just do the trick. (81)

The opposition

Sandy Tiles had been the first woman elected to the position of Hoover County District Attorney. The county had a serious, macho, gun-culture, police-are-always-right attitude, so for a woman to climb over those types of men for the top spot meant she had to be tough as nails. I would probably only get one shot at a pitch, and I had to make it a good one. (171)

Eyes opened

At first I’d thought this was about Teddy’s disability, then about his race, but it was neither. This was a program. Sandy had been telling me in her office, and I’d been too upset to listen.

“This isn’t about this case at all,” I said, barely able to control the surge of adrenaline. “It’s about social engineering. She’s lined up the judges to give her the power to lock kids away until they’re much older. To get them out of society.”

Will stared at me. “Creepy.” (205)

Samuel Bjørk. I’m Traveling Alone. 2013. USA: Viking/Penguin Random house LLC, 2015.

A thriller to challenge the most avid Nordic noir fans, the book will eventually tell us who murdered four little girls and dressed them up like dolls. Holger Munch is the head of the special investigative unit; he’s relieved that his boss, Mikkelson, allowed his team to re-form after a previous police debacle. Holger convinces his crack team member to return: Mia Krüger, who is isolating and preparing to kill herself. Mia is desolate over the death of her twin sister and the trouble she caused avenging it. Slowly that episode comes to light; no condescension to the reader here. Mia has special gifts in analyzing crimes.

Red herrings for the reader to puzzle over—the care home where Munch’s mother lives; the young actor playing Hamlet; the slippery pastor of a cultish church; young Tobias who spies on the church farm; the widow whose builder-husband left her an important video; Lukas, the church’s adoring acolyte; a mystery woman with one blue and one brown eye; Mikkel, the journalist who gets a call from the psycho killer. Cryptic messages from the killer. If only the exhausted investigators could collect all the pieces! Time is running out when Munch’s granddaughter goes missing. If one or two connections seem farfetched, who cares: the plot is very intricate, the pace is breathless. What more can a crime fiction fan ask for?

One-liners

▪ He could not think without a cigarette, and there was nothing Holger Munch loved more than thinking. (10)

▪ He often thought of running away, packing what little he owned into his knapsack and heading out into the world, away from the dark house, but it was a pipe dream. (45)

▪ A grown man, the head of a special unit, and yet he was frightened to confront his own mother. (178)

▪ “I think,” Mia said pensively, “that this is about you.” (202)

▪ Mia had not slept more than four hours in the last three days, and it was starting to get to her now, she could feel it. (238)

▪ All money belonged to God, and if someone had too much and had not been given it by God, as Pastor Simon had been, then that person had acquired it dishonestly and so needed to be punished. (262)

Multi-liners

▪ “The killer didn’t want to hurt her. He dressed her up, he washed her. Gave her an anesthetic. He didn’t want her to suffer.” (42)

▪ Torben was keeping him waiting. Tobias glanced into the forest but didn’t worry unduly. His younger brother was an inquisitive little boy; he had probably just stumbled across an interesting mushroom or an anthill. (45)

▪ “I think he tried really hard not to be Randi, but you know what it’s like, he couldn’t help himself. He had to get very drunk in order to let himself go.” (165)

▪ “It’s the opening line of Hamlet.” Susanne brushed her hair behind her ear and drank some of her beer. (170)

▪ “How can you be sure that I am who I say I am? Why don’t we play a little game?” (188)

▪ Today Lukas would be initiated. Today he would learn the secrets and hear God speak. (261)

▪ “I am God,” the pastor said. “And you are my Son.” (316)

Suicidal

The prescriptions would be ready and waiting for her, as they had been telephoned through from Oslo. Xanax, Valium, Lamictal, Celexa. Some from the psychiatrist along with some from her GP. They were all so helpful, so kind—Now, don’t take too many, please be careful―but Mia Krüger had absolutely no intention of being careful. She had not moved out here to get better. She had come here to seek oblivion. (6-7)

Journalists’ newsroom

“I’m very excited,” the voice said. “What did you decide?”

None of them were capable of uttering a single word.

“Is anyone there?” the voice asked.

Silje looked at Grung, who looked at Erik, who looked at Mikkel Wold, who looked at his fingers.

The metallic voice cackled. “Has the cat got your tongue? I need an answer now. Time is running out. Tick-tock.”

Erik Rønning cleared his throat. “We ...”

“Andrea?” the chilling voice asked. “Or Karoline? Who gets to go home? One girl dies, one girl lives. How hard can it be?” (198)

School skills

Nearly all the boys in his class knew how to pick a padlock. ... Tobias took out his keys from the zippered pocket in his jacket and found the picklock. Held the padlock so that the keyhole was widest to the right. Inserted the picklock, pressed it hard to the left until he felt it make contact with the metal inside. He flicked it, pulling the lock toward him, pressed it, and then turned it hard to the right. Tobias heard a small click as the lock opened. He removed it and lifted up the heavy hatch. A ladder. There was a long ladder leading into a hole. (222)

Contact?

“Your father received a coded message via a website,” Mia said.

“Mia!” Munch hissed, but Mia simply continued.

“The sender pretended to be a Swedish mathematician named Margrete. When we cracked the code, it turned out to be a direct threat against Marion.” (235)

Peter Robinson. Not Dark Yet. Ebook download from TPL. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 2021.

DCI Alan Banks encounters an old foe, firebug Phil Keane, once again. While his team—Annie and Gerry―is working on the gruesome murder of real estate developer Connor Blaydon, Banks is concerned about his friend Zelda who has been on a secret mission of her own; she’s wanted as a witness by the Met police. He agrees to interview her for the London cops; she tells him of her innocent involvement in a different crime, but paranoia about her immigration status and fear of police in general make her very upset. Next thing you know, her partner Ray (Annie’s father and Banks’ good friend) reports that Zelda has been abducted. The Albanian mob is suspected, not only in her case but also in Blaydon’s killing. We are in the middle of the story when Banks himself is abducted and a fiery, climactic-type event ensues.

Annie and Gerry discovered that secret video cameras were installed in bedrooms of Blaydon’s mansion for use during his parties; one of his underlings was preparing a tidy blackmail business. The videos don’t help in finding Blaydon’s killer, but they reveal the dreadful rape of a young woman. It takes hard work to identify her and even longer to identify her attacker. More people die, but the worst Albanians get their reckoning and Zelda finds a way to reconcile her sad past life. Two stories that merge: perfect Robinson. As for Banksy, his eclectic musical tastes extend even more to the classical now, filling the few lonely times he has.

Banks

▪ “This time I‘ll get to finish what I started.” He shook the can and Banks heard the petrol slosh inside it. (276)

▪ “She just said you interrogated her, humiliated her, as if she was a criminal.” (131)

▪ “I’m tired now. The doctor says I need rest. Please fuck off.” (301)

▪ “It’s sick leave, Alan. Not suspension. Because you sustained an injury on the job.” (359)

▪ As he sat and thought, he realised that already in his mind he was separating himself from the police, almost as if he was no longer one of them. Planning escape routes for fugitives was hardly something the old Banks would have done. (372)

Zelda

▪ What the hell was she doing here, running away from the good life she had found, despite all the odds, and from a good man, who was more than she deserved, seeking God only knew what? Revenge? Atonement? Reconciliation? (15)

▪ But she had to do this. Until she did, the past would keep growing, like a cancer inside her, consuming or blotting out all that was good in her life. (48)

▪ Was the past to be her undoing? Could she ever get beyond it and remake herself into a decent, normal human being? (99)

Others

▪ The police knew that Tadić had supplied Blaydon with girls for his parties. What did it all mean? (56)

▪ Ray had never felt so impotent, so useless, in his life. And their last words to one another had been angry ones. (187)

▪ “It’s not often you come across someone called Marnie.” (194)