Reading While Eating

I am in love with this book.  This title was published in the UK in 2018 and comes out this August in the US.  I found a used copy from the UK online and DEVOURED this book.  Along with whatever else I may have been eating at the time. Janina, an older woman who is labeled as a slightly unstable recluse in her Polish village, gets involved in s series of suspicious killings.  An astrologer, Janina consults the planets to make sense of what is happening.  But no one seems to believe her. For those who want a light, fast-paced read, this book may not be for you.  While this is a murder mystery, it is so much more.  The existential inner dialogue of main character Janina is a powerful and heart wrenching look into politics, animal rights and what gives life meaning.   

The Island is the second in a trilogy featuring detective Hulda Hermannsdottir.  If you haven't read the first one, The Darkness, you probably don't have to!  The Island goes back 25 years before the events in The Darkness take place.  So you could probably begin with either book. What I loved about both of these stories is the atmosphere that Jonasson's writing evokes, whether it be a cold dark city or a lush green island.  And while Jonasson's Dark Iceland series has a delicious brooding, eerie quality about it, both of these books move more quickly and read more like mainstream thrillers.  But are equally intriguing! The Island focuses on a group of friends who travel to the island to meet up again after many years.  But the reason for their trip is one of tragedy and the past hasn't finished with them yet.  Before their trip is over, one of them will die.  

Despite obvious imperfections, Amsterdam mayor Robert Walter is a character that readers will love.  Set against a modern Amsterdam, Walter becomes convinced his wife is cheating on him.  As he searches for clues, the reader is invited to experience the ditch that is Walter's every day life as he navigates life, death, love, marriage and a set of interesting elderly parents.  I absolutely LOVED this book.  This is the first book I have read by this author, but I quickly gobbled up two of his other books (Summer House with Swimming Pool and The Dinner) and loved those as well.  Koch doesn't beat around the bush or shy away from the crude or obscene when delving into the minds of his characters.  But Koch's honesty only enriches the novel, as life itself is both crude and obscene, and this makes the characters seem more true to life. Verdict:  Koch is an author that will make you think, while facing the worst of human nature.  An entertaining,...