The year's only just begun and I’m already behind on my quest to read 52 books this year with just two crossed off my list in January. But I have started a third, which I’m racing through and thoroughly enjoying. More on that next month. For now, I have reviewed 'The Darkness' and 'The Man Who Pays the Rent'.
The Darkness - Ragnar Jónasson
Sitting firmly in the popular thriller genre ’Nordic Noir’, this book opens with the discovery of the body of a young Russian woman in Reykjavik which was declared a suicide. Allowed one last case to explore before her retirement, Detective Inspector Hulda Hermannsdóttir chooses to look deeper into this case and of course, discovers that murder, not suicide, was the cause of death. Da-da-daaaaaaa. As we tumble along through the book and the investigation, we pick up insights into Hulda’s past and how traumatic that has been for her.
I found this book mostly predictable and it certainly didn’t grip me like other Nordic thrillers have. There just weren’t enough suspects to keep you guessing; Hulda was unlikeable and I formed no connection with her and, although the ending was unexpected, I felt the author rushed the last few pages in an effort to finish the book. I won’t be reading the next in the series but if it was made into a TV show, I think it would be very watchable.
Rating - 2/5
The Man Who Pays the Rent - Dame Judi Dench
Whether you like Shakespeare or not, this book will bring you immense pleasure and can be picked up an put down as you please. It’s essentially a Q&A conversation between Brendan O’Hea and Dame Judi with a focus on the Bard himself, his language, his plays and the theatre in general but it’s written so familiarly, it’s like the reader is having a conversation with Dame Judi herself! It’s wonderful. Each chapter discusses a different play, interspersed with short chapters covering Judi’s memories about some of the directors and actors she has worked with, funny stories about disasters on stage, her general thoughts on her performances, etc. She is incredibly likeable, naughty, clever and very witty - I laughed out loud several times.
I also love the origin of the book title. Shakespeare’s plays were bread and butter work for Judi and her husband, fellow RSC actor Michael Williams who died in 2001, so they termed him ‘the man who pays the rent’ - brilliant - but I’m not sure why Brendan O’Hea’s name is omitted from the cover as he is integral to the storytelling nature of the book.
Rating - 4/5
