 
 

From mysteries to historical fiction, 10 books that found favour in 2013

 

 
 
0
 
 
From mysteries to historical fiction, 10 books that found favour in 2013
 

Just One Evil Act was one of books editor Tracy Sherlock’s favourite mystery novels of 2013.

It’s impossible to name the top books of 2013, not least because I haven’t read all the possible contenders. So what follows are 10 books I enjoyed this year, from all genres, with an emphasis on Canadian titles and titles not mentioned on other lists.

Life After Life, Kate Atkinson, Bond Street Books

Kate Atkinson, author of the Jackson Brodie books, goes out on a limb with Life After Life, exploring a philosophical hypothesis about cyclical time and living one’s life over and over again. She takes this idea and plays with it, giving readers Ursula Todd, who is born in 1910 during a snowstorm in England. Todd’s life story is given several different outcomes by Atkinson, who succeeds mightily with her literary experiment.

Road Ends, Mary Lawson, Random House

This book is subtly funny, touching in ways that are at time shockingly true, awe-inspiring for its use of language and a lovely story of a Canadian family. This is the third book by Mary Lawson, a Canadian author who lives in Britain. Her earlier novels were Crow Lake (2002) and The Other Side of the Bridge (2006), which are both also wonderful novels of family life in remote parts of Canada.

Blood: The Stuff of Life, Lawrence Hill, Anansi

Canadian author Lawrence Hill, who wrote The Book of Negroes, has written a complex and knowledge-filled book about blood, that includes anecdotes, history and science. Hill tackles race, disease, blood transfusions and much, much more in this book that made up the Massey Lectures for 2013.

Raven Brings the Light, Roy Henry Vickers and Robert (Lucky) Budd, Harbour Publishing

Raven Brings the Light tells the story of how a young First Nations boy named Weget disguised himself as a raven to bring light down to Earth, accompanied by beautiful Roy Henry Vickers artwork. The story is meant to be read aloud; it is a story that has been passed down by First Nations people for at least 3,000 years, and it was first told to Vickers by Chester Bolton, chief of the Ravens, from the village of Kitkatla, in about 1975.

The Interestings, Meg Wolitzer, Riverhead Books

This book, about a group of friends who meet at a summer arts camp in 1974 when they are teenagers, reminds me of one of my previous picks: Jeffrey Eugenides’ The Marriage Plot. Readers who enjoyed that book will find a lot to like in The Interestings, which is smart, funny, breezy, yet deep. It follows the friends into middle age with great wisdom and insight.

My top mysteries

Readers who follow The Vancouver Sun books pages will know I am a fan of mystery novels. What follows is five mysteries that intrigued me this year, both with their tales of intrigue and their characters.

Just One Evil Act, Elizabeth George, Dutton

Elizabeth George can always be counted on to spin a psychologically detailed mystery with insights deep into human frailty. The Washington state author does so once again in Just One Evil Act, a Lynley mystery that focuses on Barbara Havers and her relationship with her neighbours. A young girl goes missing and is tracked to Italy, sending both Lynley and Havers on an international voyage to solve the crime.

Saints of the Shadow Bible, Ian Rankin, Orion

Rebus is back on the case, this time in two roles: solving a murder mystery with Siobhan Clarke and being questioned about something that occurred years ago when he was just starting out as a detective. Scottish author Ian Rankin’s way with a mystery that includes subtle conversations, descriptions and humorous details always make a Rebus mystery a fine tale, indeed.

Children of the Revolution, Peter Robinson, McLelland & Stewart

This, the 21st Inspector Banks mystery, has themes including drugs, sexual harassment, money and the lack thereof, college professors and how they interact with their students and even refers back to the 1970s and the Grateful Dead. Canadian author Robinson’s books are always entertaining and Children of the Revolution is no exception.

The Silent Wife, A.S.A. Harrison, Penguin Canada

Canadian author A.S.A Harrison died in April, before The Silent Wife was released. The book is a page-turner that includes a chilling psychological analysis of the breakdown of a marriage. Jodi, the wife, is in denial, while her husband, Todd, is a philanderer. The twists and turns will keep readers guessing until the very end.

No Man’s Nightingale, Ruth Rendell, Doubleday Canada

Ruth Rendell is a great writer, and an Inspector Wexford mystery is always something to savour. No Man’s Nightingale has Wexford retired, but still poking his nose into police affairs and (of course) solving the mystery before anyone else has a clue what’s going on. This book includes themes such as religion, mistaken identity, identical twins, artificial insemination, car crashes, rental fraud and much more to be enjoyed.

Sun books editor

tsherlock@vancouversun.com

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.
 
 
 
 

Book Videos

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Hot photos and videos

 
 
 
 
 
 

Breaking News Alerts

 
Sign up to receive e-mail alerts on breaking news from The Vancouver Sun.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Subscribe to The Vancouver Sun and stay connected your way
http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/books/From+mysteries+historical+fiction+books+that+found/9256861/story.html
www.vancouversun.com
crawl=CC-MAIN-2015-32
143859
application/http; msgtype=response
sha1:MPAIA7GCNWSMWEEOGTI4TYTAS3KWTUIG
<urn:uuid:2c30f39a-7630-4b23-9a3c-b919bdb973ac>
2015-07-31T09:29:16Z
23.62.6.73
sha1:5RPVRYKFB34R2JZIMB3L6QOTQ5WJHLMQ
<urn:uuid:8c6a3df5-debb-4f5e-9d1e-7fbe77b93a11>
http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/books/From+mysteries+historical+fiction+books+that+found/9256861/story.html
length
response
<urn:uuid:b9948616-d49e-4002-93f7-0bcfb35e1907>
robots: classic
hostname: ip-10-236-191-2.ec2.internal
software: Nutch 1.6 (CC)/CC WarcExport 1.0
isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2015-32
operator: CommonCrawl Admin
description: Wide crawl of the web for August 2015
publisher: CommonCrawl
format: WARC File Format 1.0
conformsTo: http://bibnum.bnf.fr/WARC/WARC_ISO_28500_version1_latestdraft.pdf