Hot Stage by Anita Nair

It's Hump Day! The week is halfway through (although it feels like it's been zooming by!).

Today I'm a stop on the Random Things Tour for Anita Nair's latest, Hot Stage. 

It's no secret that Professor Raghava Mudgood had enemies. He'd made a name for himself calling out what he viewed as right wing fascism. So much so that threats had been made on his life. 

By all accounts, though, his death appears—at least at first—to be a tragic accident. A heart attack while steaming over a hot pot. 

ACP Borei Gowda îs called to the scene in spite of being on leave and immediately has his doubts about the death being by natural causes. With his investigation being tied to a real estate lawsuit (the subject of which is the deceased's son in law), Gowda is forced to face the dark underbelly of Bangalore.

This is the latest in the Inspector Gowda series that began with A Cut-Like Wound and continued in Chain of Custody. You can read this one as a stand-alone, but there is a brief mention/recap of the first two books at the start, which means some spoilers if you go back and read those after the fact. 

Gowda is a curmudgeon, one of my favorite tropes of the genre. He's in an unhappy marriage, having an affair, and has earned promotion, in his mind, as a way of keeping him quiet about things he's uncovered in past cases. 

He's also determined and willing to put himself at risk for a case. 

With the series, Nair offers readers a look at politics, counter cultures, and police procedure in India, something I'd not really had a chance to dive into before. And I have to say I absolutely love it!

I had not yet read first two in the series, but I am definitely seeking them out now!

Hot Stage is out now from Bitter Lemon Press!

The Lover of No Fixed Abode by Carlo Fruttero & Franco Lucentini

Happy Friday! Today I'm a stop on the Random Things tour for The Lover of No Fixed Abode by Carlo Fruttero and Franco Lucentini, translated by Gregory Dowling.

A nameless narrator who works as a scout for auction houses and what seems at first to be a simple instance of paths crossing begins this cozy-ish mystery set in 80s Italy. 

A tour guide. A quiet, unassuming man who might be much more than he seems piques the interest of the narrator. Her thoughts gravitate towards him even when they have separated. But soon they are reunited. And thus kicks off a three-day affair as well as a mystery surrounding the man, our narrator, art, and Venice itself. 

This is really kind of a hard book to sum up. It's very character and setting driven, rather than plot driven. Though there is a plot. And, as the translator notes, the authors are well-known for their mysteries. But this one, apparently their most successful, is quieter than the others. 

And a quiet read it is indeed. 

Lover of No Fixed Abode is perfect for fans of quieter mysteries. It's also perfect for armchair travelers, and fans of period stories (though I am loathe to include the 80s in "period" considering I was born in that decade!). 

It's also a study, I think, in what a great translator can do. And I know that's not the point of a review, but the translator is so key to opening up works to audiences. They can either pull us in, or turn us off. And a great translator always strives to stay true to the author's original story, voice, tone...everything. 

Which seems to be something Dowling has taken great pains to do, especially considering the authors have both passed away.

I have never been to Venice. So I certainly never experienced it at the time the story is set, but the authors have truly created a stunning portrayal of the setting that will stick with readers and potentially leave them yearning for a vacation of a sort that they will soon realize is only possible in the pages of a book!

Trouble by Katja Ivar

Good morning, readers! Today I'm super excited to be part of the Random Things tour for Katja Ivar's latest Hella Mauzer mystery, Trouble. 

Having recovered from nearly losing her life on her last investigation, Hella has decided it's finally time to face down her own past. 

It's been over a decade since her family was killed in a horrible accident. And Hella has taken great pains to avoid the family home. Until now. Even though she's recuperated, four floors of stairs to her apartment aren't exactly welcome. And the house has been empty all along. 

No sooner has she arrived, however, than her former boss calls her with another case. This time it's a simple background check for the new head of homicide. But it's delicate considering the man was a revered spy. And it probably wouldn't be great for the man's soon to be employees to be doing the investigation either. 

Hella agrees, but only if she's granted access to her family's file. After all, it was only until recently she began to believe their death might not have been an accident after all. 

At first her case is simple and the man seems to be the perfect candidate. But as Hella digs further, she does find something suspicious. Whether it concerns the focus of her investigation or is a coincidence is up to Hella to discover. 

This is such a fun series!

Set in the 50s, this third in the series takes place right on the heels of book 2, which takes place directly on the heels of book 1. That said, each can be read as a standalone (with minor spoilers if you backtrack). 

Hella's father was a top tier spy in his day. In fact, he died just after announcing his retirement. Hella was the only one left, having been sick the day the family took their fateful last outing. 

Working for her old boss again isn't exactly Hella's cup of tea. The last favor she did for him didn't end that well. But hints of something suspicious in her family's file are enough for her to take the job. 

Unfortunately for Hella, her family's file is empty. 

No matter. She sets forth to do her promised job and requests that her old boss look into the file in the meantime. 

And really it should be a simple job. But trouble finds Hella no matter where she goes!

Hella is a fabulous character! A female police officer in Finland in the wake of WWII and Finland's own issues. This third in the series is set in the days after Stalin's death, so things aren't exactly stable around the country. 

And in truth, each book deals with those issues to an extent. Evil Things concerns the body of a dead Russian found just over the border and Deep As Death involves the suspected murders of prostitutes. 

As mentioned, each book can be read as a standalone. And honestly any spoilers are pretty minor. 

Fans of fabulous Nordic Noir should take note, Ivar is an author you definitely need to add to your TBR! It's also perfect for fans of historical fiction and mysteries in general. It's definitely a series I want more people to discover—and I can't wait for another installment myself!

Trouble is out now in the UK and will be out in the US later next month!

Evil Things by Katja Ivar

Hella Mauzer's talents as an investigator are being wasted in the tiny town of Ivalo. Much of her time is spent on a drunk using the local doctor's doormat as a urinal! But it is 1952 and Hella is an oddity as a formally trained officer rather than a polissyster. 

When she hears of a report of a missing man in a northern town that sits near the Soviet border, she insists on being sent to investigate. The deal is that if it is indeed a criminal investigation, she'll get paid for her time. If not, then she got a little vacation time to see the remote northern town. 

Almost as soon as Hella arrives, a body is recovered from the nearby woods. And it seems Hella might be wrong in her hunch that something untoward has happened to the missing man. But the body is that of a woman and Hella finds evidence of murder rather than the bear mauling everyone believes it to be. 

As she investigates, it occurs to Hella that the people in the tiny town are hiding things from her. But does that make one of the townspeople a killer? Or is there something larger at play? And when she identifies the body of the dead woman, she knows without a doubt that this is one case that those in charge would rather leave unsolved. 

I loved this first in the Hella Mauzer series! I know nothing about the history of Finland. And this is set in the aftermath of WWII, largely based in a town that is so close to the Soviet border that it's citizens often cross over to do their shopping. In fact, there's plenty of suspicion with regards to the townspeople and their loyalties throughout the book. 

The time period is definitely something that makes this a stand out. Ivar includes a bit of history in the afterword of the book, pointing out that Finland did indeed have female officers in the first half of the twentieth century, but they were as rare as Hella herself. 

And Hella comes up against a lot of barriers as a woman. She's not taken seriously as an officer. She's transferred from her first position for being too emotional. And she's all too aware that she needs more to back up her theories than her male colleagues. 

Hella is excellent! She's a little surly (understandably) and very clever. She's the daughter of a spy and she dropped out of medical school before becoming a cop. She's also nursing something of a broken heart from her time in Helsinki. She's got her own quirks and her own deep-set ideas. In short, she's a perfect lead for a series and I absolutely can't wait to read more!

Order a copy from your favorite indie via Bookshop!