Rural Routes, Blog Version

WHAT I HAVE BEEN READING:

“The Hermit” by Thomas Rydahl (mystery)

I enjoy mystery/crime novels and Scandinavian noir has provided some of my favourites.

“The Hermit” is a debut novel by Danish writer Thomas Rydahl and the debut garnered several awards – the Glass Key Award for the best Nordic crime novel, the Danish Debutant Award (the first time ever that the award has been given to a murder mystery) and the Harald Mogensen Award for the best Danish crime novel.

The novel is not set in Denmark; the plot rolls out on the Spanish island of Fuerteventura where a reclusive Dane known locally as The Hermit earns a meagre living as a taxi driver and sometime piano tuner. Erhard sends a portion of his wages back to his family in Denmark in atonement for his abrupt departure years earlier.

The discovery of a dead baby in a cardboard box on the back seat of a car left abandoned on the beach serves as a catalyst for Erhard. Nearing 70 and computer illiterate, he is an unlikely detective.

Although the case is solved, there are plenty of questions remaining about Erhard’s past, which leads me to wonder whether there were will be more Hermit mysteries. I will watch for them.

“The Crescent Onion” by Val Pattee (thriller)

A change of pace.

International spy thrillers are not my usual fare, although I do occasionally read them. This one is special, written by an extended family member whose career in the Canadian Air Force made him familiar with spies and their stories.

Major General Val Pattee served as Chief of Intelligence and Security for NATO in Europe and for Canada. “The Crescent Onion” is his second book, a sequel to “The Onion Files”.

I am half-way through and will leave my thoughts until the book is finished.

CANADA READS (in Neepawa)

On March 23, I participated in the third annual Canada Reads event at Margaret Laurence Home in Neepawa, MB.

The book I chose to defend was “The Break” by Katherena Vermette of Winnipeg. I chose it, not only because the book is generating a lot of buzz, but also because it was the only book of the five that I had already read. Lazy me.

Books were on sale at the event, courtesy of McNally Robinson, and I came home from Neepawa with two more books to add to my pile. (At the time of posting, those two books were the two remaining titles on the Canada Reads competition.)

The evening also included some music, munchies and wine. All enjoyed between the walls of Margaret Laurence’s childhood home with its period furnishings and décor. My idea of heaven.

The next day, when the shortlists for the Manitoba Book Awards were announced, there was Katherena Vermette’s name on the shortlist for the Margaret Laurence Fiction Award (among others). It seemed appropriate.

FOUND IN MY MAIL BOX – (and I mean the old fashioned kind):  my eagerly-awaited copy of Kimmy Beach’s novella “Nuala: a Fable”.  I worked with Kimmy during the editing phase of my book “The Waiting Place” and I know how talented she is.

FOUND IN MY E-MAIL BOX – a note from the administrator of the Facebook group for former Young Cooperator Club members. I was a member of the Young Cooperators Club in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Members submitted short stories, essays and poetry to The Western Producer, a weekly prairie publication. Selected pieces were then published and appraised monthly by a peer writer nominated from membership ranks.

The administrator had seen a news article in which I said that I had been a club member in my teens. She invited me to join the group, and so I did.

My pen-name in those days was “Highland Lassie”.

FOUND IN MY DESK – a relic of days long past.  This typewriter eraser is guaranteed to work on both original and carbon copies. I bet it hasn’t been used in forty years.

“Use it or lose it”, K said when I showed it to him.

“It’s not a language,” I told him. Although I suppose it was a language tool in some ways.

“If you don’t use it, you don’t need it,” and he pointed to the garbage can.

But instead I think it will be hidden in a box of ‘old things’ where it will get even older.

AND FINALLY – the cats are taking advantage of the sunshine. It is obviously hard on their eyes.

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