Edgars Read So Far

I've been reading the 2008 Edgar Award nominees as I can find them in our public library.

New reads:

• Christine Falls by Benjamin Black. The full review is on Revish. It's a nominee for Best Novel and the first in the Quirk series. Quirk is a pathologist in Dublin in the 1950s. Black wrote a careful, layered story, very character driven. The Catholic Church takes a hit. Recommended.
• Priest by Ken Bruen. Follow the link to the full review on Revish. Priest is also a Best Novel nominee and is a Jack Taylor story. The Catholic Church takes another hit here. Recommended.

Previous reads:

• Chicago Blues . Review on Revish. Nominee for Best Short Story. Contains Stuart Kaminsky's short story, Blue Note, a poignant story about a son, his singer mother, a literate gangster, and gambling.
• Who is Conrad Hirst by Kevin Wignall. Nominee for Best Paperback Original . An excellent story of a confused hit man trying to quit.
• In the Woods by Tana French. Nominee for Best First Novel by an American Author. A murder investigation set near Dublin, Ireland conducted in the shadow of an old investigation. Tana lives in Ireland and I think the Irish are claiming her though she is nominated as an American author.

I'm glad I'm not on the awards committee. I would find it difficult to put Priest against Christina Falls. They are both excellent and but very different at least to my untutored eye.

Time to go look for more. If I'm lucky, Queenpin, nominee for Best Paperback Original will still be on the shelf.